Perception Is Everything
by devotedtodreams
Summary: Sequel to MTCLF. AU. While Sasuke struggles to get used to his new family, he wonders if he can ever forgive Itachi for what he did. Personally, he doubts it, but he only knows one side of the story... Shonen-ai & Uchihacest. see author's note for updates
1. Beginnings aren't easy

Well, here's the sequel to "Moments that could last forever". I hope that everyone who enjoyed the first part will enjoy this as well... _(crosses fingers)_ This story is dedicated to **CeruleanCypher **and **SkywardShadow**! You guys really rock my socks, and I'm super-happy that I can call you my friends! :D

Before I go on, there are a couple of things that I'd like to say in the very beginning. I might repeat myself later on sometimes, but I'd like to say everything in advance first:

Firstly, I've got enough ideas/dreams that will last for a couple of chapters... three or four, maybe. And a couple more, I suppose, but that would happen quite a bit later, so I'd have to think of some "fillers" first. I know people don't necessarily like this (and I sure will try on my own, mark my words), but if there are any suggestions you'd like to make or you have any wishes you'd like to pass on to me, feel free to do so. Just remember that I cannot - and will not - "go graphic" unless I get lots and lots of help or if I make fundamental changes in my personality (therapy, perhaps? Ya never know)...

**Secondly, I will be going to school again in September.** I want to learn how to become a librarian, and the studies will take approximately three years. In the past, I've screwed up big-time with balancing school work, studying and my hobbies, but this time, I simply cannot afford to mess this up. Therefore, I will need some time-out sometimes, and if you will hear anything from me in that time, it will only be very little. However, I will notify you guys about this more or less shortly in advance, just so you won't think I have died or something. And I certainly won't lose my love for writing and/or Naruto anytime soon, so don't worry.

Thirdly, about the length of the chapters: I know that there were some rather long ones in MTCLF, but I certainly don't see a chapter with 10,000 or more words coming up again anytime soon. The way I see it, most chapters will be about as long as this one - the reason for this is the one I stated above. That's just the way it is. Oh, and about songs and inspiration (God knows those two things go hand in hand): I will list the songs at the end of each chapter as the story progresses because I really don't know if I'll ever (manage to) finish it. So yeah, different strategy this time.  
But one song in particular will be important throughout the entire story because it is my basic inspiration: it's **"Heart Of Stone"** by **Cher**. It gives me goosebumps - a brilliant song! X3

**Warnings:** OOC-ness (especially the Akatsuki, though hopefully not all the time), motherly!Konan, shonen-ai/yaoi - the main pairing will be ItaSasu; in other words, Uchihacest, so if you don't like one of these things I just listed, turn back this instant!

**Disclaimer:** Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Yeah, I know, that was boring, but I'm not all that creative when it comes to disclaimers... -.-;

Now that all that has been said, enough with my rambling! ^__^; The only thing left to say is that I hope you'll enjoy this! Et voilà, la lecture! XD

* * *

When Sasuke opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was darkness. He didn't even see the ceiling of… wherever he was – if there **was** one in the first place – until he blinked a few times and his vision became clearer. And even then, it was only dimly visible.

Where was he? What had happened? Sasuke blinked yet again, trying to gather his thoughts and remember. It felt like he had just woken up from the strangest dream… He squinted a bit, trying to stare at the ceiling, and sighed softly. It was all a blur… a jumble of thoughts that he couldn't make sense of right now. He felt too dazed.

Then he noticed a soft glow that seemed to be coming from his right. Light… Feeling relieved that he hadn't woken up to find himself in utter darkness, Sasuke slowly turned his head and discovered that a candle was burning on a little table. A single, lone candle, but it provided light, and that was all that mattered to him. He shifted to face the small flame, as if it were a fire that could warm him up. His body moved on something soft… very soft, unlike where he had lost conscience. Sasuke could remember that much – he had fallen to the floor. But otherwise, the memory hadn't quite returned yet. Bleary-eyed, he stared at the flame, unblinking, waiting for both more strength and his memory to return.

And then, as he looked right at the brightest part of the flame, his aimlessly wandering thoughts were brought back down to earth with a bang, and he twitched violently as a series of images flashed through his mind:

A smile. A frown. The slender hand of a female gently stroking the cheek of someone lying on a bed. Hands sneaking underneath a shirt as a pair of lips met in a forbidden kiss. Lips that moved as they spoke, making a solemn promise. Eyes that bore a sympathetic look, eyes that shone with an expectant gleam.

And then he heard the voices.

_One way or another, I will always be here for you._

_I wanna be just like nii-san someday!_

_I have loved you from the moment I first laid eyes on you, Sasuke._

_Please promise me that even if I ever would hurt you, you will remember my love._

_I __promise__, aniki._

_Not all siblings __are as close as you and Itachi._

_If you want to be like Itachi, you have a mountain of work ahead of you. _

_I don't want to be anyone's downfall… especially not yours._

_My otouto… I love you so much… more than you can imagine…_

_He looks like nii-san… he __**sounds**__ like him too… but he… he's so strange._

_I would die a thousand deaths to undo the pain I have caused you._

_I won't leave you, Sasuke. I promise… I really do._

_I __**had**__ to do this, Sasuke. It was my mission._

Sasuke's eyes widened and got filled with an anxious look as his memory returned so suddenly. His chest rose and fell faster and faster as his breathing became shallow with dread and fear.

Now the memory was almost complete, and all that Sasuke's mental eye saw went down in flames, like an old piece of parchment that had gotten touched by a single spark. His mother's sweet smile faded away as Sasuke remembered that she was dead, having been unceremoniously left behind in their home while her husband was sprawled over her with blood dripping off his chin and onto the floor.

The candle's flame flickered, and still Sasuke stared at it wide-eyed as he watched how everything he had had shattered to pieces. The final puzzle piece fell into place as he remembered a pair of eyes which slowly opened to reveal a Sharingan that he had only seen for the second time in his life that night. Something happened to him then… it was as if he had suddenly left the "normal" world, in a way…

_Sasuke, you leave me with no other choice._

And then there had been blackness until now. With his memory finally regained again, Sasuke hastily tore his gaze away from the candle and sat bolt upright, clutching the blankets as he tried to make himself as small as possible. His heartbeat sped up until it was nearly painful… that too felt vaguely familiar.

How could he have forgotten? His brother… his… his aniki… had killed everyone. Because it was his **mission**, apparently. But what kind of mission was **that**?! Sasuke whimpered and closed his eyes tightly, trying to deny the undeniable. It was so unreal… for so long, Itachi had been nothing less than his loving, caring older brother – and now? Now he was a murderer who had killed the entire clan out of the blue. Sasuke felt tears well up in his eyes as he wondered exactly how well he had known his brother. Not very well, it seemed. Perhaps no one had ever known him in the first place, otherwise… otherwise surely someone would have seen that coming, right?! He still heard Itachi's voice echo in his mind – _Please promise me that even if I ever would hurt you, you will remember my love_ – but he found it very hard to keep the promise he had made that day. In fact, he found it downright impossible. Itachi had hurt him in a way he had never even dared to consider. How could he think of love now, how could he ever forgive him when he was responsible for their family's ferocious death?

Thinking of Itachi made a new thought occur to him: he may have no idea where he currently was, but who said that Itachi wasn't here as well? He was the only other survivor, and if it really was Itachi's mission to kill everybody, surely he would come back for him.

Nervously, Sasuke flung the blankets aside and climbed out of the bed he had been lying in (how had he gotten there, and who had brought him there?). He had no other desire than to get out of here as fast as he could – preferably without running into Itachi, who might be lurking anywhere, as his terrified thoughts reminded him. His rationality tried to talk him out of the sorrow he felt right now all the same; there would be time for that later on, but first he needed to find a place where he felt safe and at ease. It worked, at least partially.

And so, alone and frightened, Sasuke crept to the door, feverishly keeping up his guard as he opened it only to find an equally dark hallway beyond it.

Trying to calm down since he didn't want to get noticed just because of stressed and quite audible breathing, Sasuke peered first to the left, then to the right. He didn't see nor hear anybody else, but when dealing with shinobi, that didn't mean a thing. But which way did he have to go? Left or right? Sasuke bit his lip as he frantically tried to make a decision as quickly as he could. His heart wanted him to go left, but Sasuke figured that it had led him astray in terms of Itachi, so why trust it now? Instead, he turned to the right and set off.

He always kept at least one hand on the wall as he walked, and since he was trembling all over with anticipation and nervousness, it was no big surprise that both his breathing and heartbeat didn't slow down very much. Sasuke was almost certain that his heart could be heard for miles around – or at least throughout this whole unfamiliar place, if he didn't want to exaggerate so much…

For quite a while, he still didn't see any life signs of others, and he finally allowed himself to calm down a tiny bit; he began to walk with only the fingertips of one hand trailing along the wall as he looked around curiously. There wasn't much to see, however; it still was quite dark, and the walls were very plain with no pictures to decorate them. Sasuke couldn't imagine why anybody would want to live here.

He wasn't paying much attention to where he was going anymore, and suddenly, he collided with something soft. Startled, he tried to jump back, but two ghostly white hands grabbed him around the waist and lifted him straight off the ground. Sasuke squeaked and tried to worm his way out of this predicament, but to no avail. His breath hitched when his gaze fell upon the face of his captor: it was just as pale as the hands, with very… snake-like features, in a way. The stranger's eyes were golden and glittered as they looked at him. The pupils looked like none Sasuke had ever seen before – at least, not as far as human beings went. They weren't round, but slits instead, like a reptile's eye.

"Well, well, what have we here?" the stranger asked. The tone of voice indicated that Sasuke was in the grasp of a man whose looks alone might have suggested something different. "Welcome back among the living, Sasuke-kun." He spoke the "s" with a faint hiss, like… well, a snake.

Unsettled by the way this man leered at him, Sasuke squirmed. "W-Who are you? How do you know me?" he asked timidly.

"You don't need to fear me. And who am I, you ask? I'm Orochimaru." So quickly that Sasuke nearly missed it, he winked at him. "We'll be great friends – you'll see."

"Could you put me down? You're hurting me," Sasuke whined. Indeed; Orochimaru's fingers were slowly digging into his sides as he held him up high.

"Poor little Sasuke-kun… just relax, and I'll make you feel better. Loads better…" Orochimaru purred, briefly letting Sasuke glimpse a purple tongue that licked his lips suggestively.

It had been pleasantly warm in the hallway before, but now the temperature seemed to drop to arctic degrees as a voice that came from the shadows said:

"Put him down, Orochimaru. **Now**."

The two males looked in the direction of the voice, one of them looking wary while the other looked unsure.

"Aw, come on! Why does everyone else get a go at him but I don't?!" Orochimaru asked exasperatedly.

"Don't play dumb with me, buster. You know the rules, don't you? I told Zetsu to inform you."

"He's a scout, not a messenger," the snake-sannin pointed out semi-helpfully.

"Unlike you, he can distinguish orders from simple requests. Now, put Sasuke down!"

Orochimaru huffed and held Sasuke demonstratively close against him. The young Uchiha almost instinctively tried to keep as distance as possible as he pushed against the man's chest as he thought about that lascivious look in the other's eyes; he remembered Misaki receiving a similar look, but not from a stranger. And every child knew that caution was advised when dealing with strangers…

"Well, what if I don't want to?"

"You don't want to know that," the other voice answered softly, though unmistakably threatening. Finally, the speaker emerged into sight, and Sasuke winced as one of Orochimaru's hands dug itself into his rear end.

A pale, blue-haired woman was watching their every move, eyes wandering back and forth between Sasuke and Orochimaru. She wore a long, black cloak with red clouds on it, whereas Orochimaru was dressed more casually. The collar reached up to her chin, and just above that, a most displeased frown could be seen. Sasuke noticed the white flower in her hair and thought that somehow, it didn't quite match her dark attitude.

"Hand him over, Orochimaru, and I will go gentle on you," she said coldly.

"Ha! You lost him, didn't you? Finders keepers, losers weepers," he retorted, digging his own grave even deeper as he said the last part in a sing-song voice.

A shadow fell over her face, and she narrowed her eyes. It was a miracle that one couldn't actually see sparks flying from them.

"If you don't surrender him in the next three seconds, I will stick a kunai where the sun never shines."

The haughty look on her comrade's face faded somewhat, and he slowly started to back away. "You wouldn't dare to…"

"Oh, trust me, I **would**. I will make sure that you won't be able to sit for a long, long time!"

Foolishly enough, Orochimaru didn't seize the opportunity to comply with her request – read: order – immediately, and Konan snapped. She lashed out, making a swiping movement with both arms, and for a split second, a whistle could be heard as something shot through the air. Orochimaru never stood a chance: he was halfway done with flinching when his clothes got shredded and fell to the floor at his feet, revealing strikingly pink underwear that simply **couldn't** have been bought in the men's department.

"Gah!" Orochimaru actually dropped Sasuke as he hastily (and awkwardly) tried to cover himself up with the rags that had been his clothes just a second or two ago. But the damage had already been done.

Sasuke didn't hit the floor that day: like a blue flash, Konan was there in time to catch him, and for the second time already, he found himself in the arms of a stranger who was busy wrinkling her nose at her fellow criminal.

"Honestly; if I wouldn't already know that you're hopeless, I might even worry about you. Now clean up this mess – and if I catch you doing this again, then…" She didn't bother to finish the sentence, but instead swiftly produced a kunai which she pointed at him.

Orochimaru growled, but wisely decided to hold his tongue until she was out of sight and even the sound of her shoes couldn't be heard anymore. He wasn't **that** hopeless… was he?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sasuke didn't make a single peep as Konan carried him back to where he had come from. He didn't even **try** to protest against that – after seeing what she had done to Orochimaru without even touching him, he guessed that such an action would be suicidal.

Naturally, Konan took notice of this silence. Every time she looked at Sasuke, even if it was just out of the corner of her eye, he looked away right on time, as if he feared that he might piss her off if she caught him staring. He was even being dreadfully careful about the way he held on to her: Konan had no explanation for that behavior other than the one that he was desperately trying not to wrinkle up her cloak within his grasp. Now, if she could just persuade him to relax a bit…

"…You slept for three days, in case you've been wondering," she told him.

Sasuke cast a nervous glance at her, but still didn't speak and hurriedly looked away again. Konan decided to give it another try – maybe that wasn't the right subject he wanted to talk about. Maybe that wasn't exactly what he was wondering about.

"Perhaps my previous action rendered you unsure, but you should know that that wasn't the first time he crossed a line. Only last time, he didn't quite succeed, unlike now…"

Sasuke remained silent, however, and Konan frowned as they entered his bedroom again. He wasn't a mute unless she had missed a most recent development, she was sure of that. But what on earth did she have to say before he would answer her?

"Look, is there nothing you're wondering about?" she asked rather dejectedly as she carefully put him back down on the bed.

Sasuke began looking at anything but her as a brief silence fell between them once more. Although Konan tried not to let it get to her too much, this irritated her somewhat, which made her misinterpret his reluctance to speak.

"I'm not a mind-reader, you know," she pointed out.

Sasuke froze, fearing that he was done for. He had just been trying to summon the courage to answer her…! But as he took a closer look, he noticed no signs that she was about to hit the roof. There wasn't much he could read in her expression, but he could tell that much. He blinked, then asked so quietly that it was nearly a whisper:

"…Who are you?"

Konan barely avoided face-faulting when she heard that. Of course! She had just walked in on him and Orochimaru, snatched him away from the latter, and that had been it. She couldn't believe that she hadn't considered the most obvious option as to why he hadn't said a word to her so far. He had absolutely no fault in this. Her features softened as she smiled at him. Just a small smile, but a smile all the same.

"My name is Konan. You don't need to fear me."

"I'm Sasuke," he replied automatically.

Konan chuckled. "I know. I already know who you are."

"Really? How?" Sasuke inquired as his eyes widened in amazement. He was pretty sure that he had never before seen her in his life, so how did she know him?

"Well…" Konan trailed off, pausing as she contemplated how she would answer him. She needed to choose her words carefully, without a doubt…

Just then, the door opened, and Kisame rushed in, looking rather relieved and excited.

"Hey Konan, guess what! Itachi finally woke up!"

Konan jumped at the sudden interruption, but Sasuke's reaction was much more vehement: he gasped and tried to shrink away from Kisame. For him, it was sufficient that the other stranger had merely spoken his brother's name. He pulled at the blankets as if to cover himself with them, but since Konan was sitting on the bed, they only covered everything up to his nose.

"He even knows who I am and everything…!"

Kisame's further rambling was pretty much ignored as Konan concernedly took notice of Sasuke's evident apprehension. The innocent and inquisitive look was gone from his eyes and had gotten replaced with fear, aversion and bitterness instead. It had been quite a while since she had last seen such a look on a child's face, and she by far didn't enjoy seeing it again. She had only just begun to think of ways how she could appease Sasuke when something Kisame said made her stop zoning out on him:

"…Oh, and you know what the first thing was that he said when he woke up? 'Sasuke'!"

Sasuke winced and tugged even harder at the blankets. He looked downright frantic, and Konan knew that she had to do something right now.

"Yes, thank you, Kisame!" she said loudly – much louder than necessary. "Why don't you go wait outside in the hallway? I'll be along in a moment."

"Geez, why do you yell at me? Here I am, bringing good news to you, and you yell as if we're at opposite ends of Fire Country…!" Kisame complained.

"Kisame!" Konan snapped.

"Huh?"

"Out. **Now**."

There was no mistaking that tone of voice… and knowing this, Kisame made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a squeak as he backed out of the room, his hands slightly raised in defense.

"All right, all right already… I'm going… gone… forget that I even **was** here…" he muttered, and the rest of his words were cut off as the door closed again.

Konan huffed, thinking about how only a man was capable of rushing in and being so inconsiderate, then turned back to Sasuke, who was trembling slightly and goggling at her, clearly terrified.

"I was right… he's here…" he whimpered.

"Yes, Sasuke; he's here," Konan replied softly. "That's why **you're** here in the first place."

"I can't stay here – he wants to kill me! His mission isn't over until he has killed me too! He already killed everyone else…!" That was all Sasuke managed to say before he averted his gaze and bit his lower lip, struggling not to cry as the memories of that fateful night overcame him again.

"Sasuke, try to calm down a bit. He may be here, but he won't kill you."

"How do you know that? Why… why are you so sure?"

"Because…" She paused, not liking this conversation at all. She knew what she had to say next, but she wished she wouldn't have to say it. "…If you don't want to see him, that can be arranged," she told him.

Sasuke nodded desperately. "I don't want to see him. I don't **ever** want to see him again!" he added for good measure as raw hurt became visible in his eyes.

"Listen, I know that you… that this is very hard for you, so I'll skip that second part for now. Let's just settle with the fact that you don't want to see him, okay?" Konan suggested evasively. Sasuke just stared at her in a way of saying that he wasn't apt to change his mind, and she sighed. "I need to leave for a while, but I'll be back. I advise you to stay here unless you want a similar incident like before happening again."

Sasuke muttered something she couldn't understand before curling into a ball on the spot, covering himself with the blankets. Konan simply watched him for a moment, then she hesitantly reached out and touched his hair, lightly running her fingers across the thick, messy strands. Big onyx eyes regarded her, and Konan suddenly wondered if she was only imagining seeing something seep through the boy's mask of sadness: a wisp of appreciation and gratitude. She dearly hoped that her imagination wasn't playing tricks on her.

"If there's anything you want – something to eat or drink, for instance – just tell me, hmm?" she said.

"Thanks," Sasuke mumbled almost shyly. Konan secretly thought that this made him pretty adorable.

"Don't mention it," she whispered and moved her hand from his hair to his cheek, giving it one gentle stroke before she stood up and headed for the door. Before she left the room, however, she turned back one more time only to find Sasuke staring at the candle again. What she would give to know what he was thinking… maybe then she would have a better idea of how she could help him deal with the situation. But she mustn't be too hasty, she tried to tell herself; first of all, Sasuke needed time. He needed lots of time, and in the meantime, she would try to help him as good as she could. Yes, that sounded like a plan, she thought triumphantly.

"Sasuke?" she called in a low voice.

"Yeah?" he asked back, halfway rolling over.

"…Welcome, by the way," she continued, offering him another smile.

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards. It wasn't much of a reaction, but it was a start. And that was why Konan was satisfied all the same as she finally proceeded to leave the room and deal with Kisame, who was awaiting her impatiently in the hallway. Now she would have to visit Itachi – and she would certainly be considered the bearer of bad news when she would have to tell him that his precious brother was terrified of him and refused to see him. And one thing was for damn sure: she dreaded his reaction, she really did.

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So, um... how was it? I hope it was acceptable...

Please review; I sure would appreciate it! :)

Till next time! _(waves)_


	2. Necessary Precautions

Hi guys! It's nearly been a month now... _(sigh)_ Many apologies, but as usual, I was busy, and then I had a couple of problems getting started with this. Still, I guess this is halfway decent... but that's just me. Perhaps you'll agree, and perhaps not. I'll just have to wing it.

I hope you'll enjoy the chapter! Happy reading! ^_^

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As soon as she closed the door and turned around to face a now extremely impatient Kisame, Konan became stone-faced again.

"You just couldn't let it be, could you?" she asked, shaking her head.

Kisame threw up his hands. "What? What did I do?" he retorted.

"I sincerely hope that I don't have to explain it…" Konan muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose as they started to walk down the hallway in the opposite direction Sasuke had taken before.

"All I said was that Itachi is awake! I thought you **liked** good news!" Kisame whined.

"I **do** like good news, but that was the wrong place and the wrong time to break them to me."

Kisame merely raised an eyebrow as they came to a halt in front of another door. Konan sighed as if saying «Why me…?».

"If you'd have just an ounce of consideration, you would have asked to talk to me in private. Now, I'll say this once, and for the love of God, don't make me say it again – at least not anytime soon: don't mention Itachi in front of Sasuke, you hear?" she said sternly.

"I can't say his name?"

"No."

"I can't say he says good morning?"

"No…"

"I can't tell him he dreamed about him?"

"For heaven's sake, **no**, Kisame! For crying out loud, weren't you listening?!" Konan asked irritably.

"Of course I was; I just wanted to make sure! Sheesh…" Kisame grumbled.

Konan took a deep breath to prevent the angry vein from reappearing on her forehead.

"Alright… you know what? I'd like you to spread a word among the others."

The shark-man instantly assumed a soldier-like pose.

"Tonight, I want all of you to stay behind for a moment after dinner. All projects must be put on hold for a while, and when I say all, I mean all. Got it?"

"Club meeting after dinner tonight. Roger that," Kisame confirmed, saluting her.

Konan pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Just… go, Kisame, go," she told him with a shooing gesture. Kisame took off like a rocket; only a cloud of dust indicated where he had been standing just before.

'_Pein would kill him if he knew he called us a «club»…'_

Konan had actually intended to gather her thoughts and think about what she could (and should) say before she entered the room, but instead she merely found herself thinking about Kisame and his impetuous reactions – _'Don't ask, don't ask, __**don't**__ ask…'_ – as she opened the door.

It was somewhat brighter in here than in Sasuke's room: two candles were burning beside the bed. And on that bed…

Konan frowned. "And just what do you think you're doing?"

"…Getting up…"

Indeed; Itachi had sat up, and the blankets were pushed back. The ribbon in his hair was very loose now, so lots of his hair hung wildly around his pale face. Konan saw her suspicion confirmed: he definitely was a lot paler than the last time she had seen him. He probably wouldn't admit it, but he didn't exactly look like he was in the condition of getting up right now.

"I don't think so," Konan replied briskly as she crossed the room. "I've seen corpses who looked livelier than you do now. Therefore, I strongly advise you not to get up."

"No, you don't understand –" Itachi began, but Konan had reached the bed by now and gave him a stern, meaningful stare.

"I **said** I strongly advise you **not** to get up," she repeated in a very different tone of voice.

For several moments, they simply stared at each other, but it couldn't even have been considered a staring competition because there was absolutely no doubt about who would be the winner. Eventually, Itachi gave in and let himself fall back onto the sheets.

"But what about Sasuke?" he asked resignedly.

"You don't need to worry about him," Konan answered, lightly covering him with the blankets again.

"I need to explain… I tried to talk to him…" Itachi protested.

"It would be better if you got some sleep now instead," she remarked pointedly.

"You don't understand…" Itachi concluded sadly.

Konan couldn't help but notice that rueful look in his eyes. It made his current appearance all the more pitiful. She sat down on the edge of the chair Kisame had placed beside the bed, and her voice was softer when she spoke to him again.

"Look, I know that you're worried about him and that there are important issues you need to discuss. But now is not the time for that."

"Is Sasuke not well?" Itachi asked concernedly.

Konan made an unsure gesture with her hand. "He's doing well considering the circumstances. But… it would be for the best if you let him be for a while."

Itachi sighed. "…I should have known…"

Although she already felt like she could hardly take it anymore, Konan cupped her chin in her hands. "What else did you expect?"

"I really don't know. Maybe it's just wishful thinking… Or maybe I was just hoping that since we're brothers… you know…"

Konan didn't have the heart to tell him exactly what Sasuke had said; it would only upset him even more, and he needed some more rest before he could get confronted with that. Instead, she just shook her head.

"You should rest again. And don't worry about Sasuke; I've got it all covered."

"Even…?"

"Even that, yes. I've taken all the necessary precautions."

Just then, through the closed door, they heard a shrill yelp from the hallway, followed by not quite so easily distinguishable curses and hisses. A wicked, almost sadistic smile played on Konan's lips, and Itachi caught sight of a triumphant glint in her eyes.

"You must excuse me now, Itachi – there's a little matter that demands my immediate attention. Why don't you get a little more rest in the meantime while I go see what's keeping Kisame, hmm?" she asked in a very sweet voice indeed as she stood up.

"Alright…"

Itachi didn't sound all that convincing, but Konan didn't seem to mind that so much, for she didn't bother to give point to her words as she left the room at a smart pace. Once he was alone again, Itachi lay still – until he heard someone's agitated voice. Then his curiousness got the better of him, and as long as no one was around to stop him, he decided to continue where he had left off before Konan had walked in on him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Konan arrived back at Sasuke's room to find Orochimaru struggling to regain his composure. As the only other soul who was present just then, Kisame was watching him bug-eyed while the snake-sannin ranted:

"…confounded, twisted mind of hers! Seriously! She's got to pay for booby-trapping this place…!"

"Um… Orochimaru, we're talking about **Konan** here…" Kisame replied rather nervously.

"Yeah, well, she's not the boss of me!" Orochimaru scowled. "Son of a bitch, this hurts…!" he whined an instant later, reaching around himself to rub his backside gingerly.

"Dude, she **did** warn you," Kisame reminded him.

"Oh, come on! She's exaggerating! Am I that bad of a guy?!"

Kisame merely started to whistle innocently and deliberately ignored the glare he received for that.

"Well, well, what have we here? Lost something, Orochimaru?" Konan asked mildly as she entered the scene.

"You know, Konan, pardon me for being so frank, but sometimes you really are a hellish, nasty fiend," Orochimaru shot back.

Kisame held his breath at his comrade's boldness. This simply **had** to have some consequences, and he wasn't exactly keen on sticking around when the storm would break loose. Maybe he could just inch around them and get out of this scot-free…

"Oh. Oh, that really hurt," Konan jeered with an excessively dramatic gesture and a matching look in her eyes. It was sarcasm at its best. Without taking her eyes off the man who was merely standing half-upright, she continued: "Kisame?"

'_Crap!'_ He had only just snuck past her – a little further, and he could have made a clean getaway! With one foot still in the air, he asked warily: "Yes…?"

"Am I really such a horrible fiend?"

That false whine was creepy. Kisame wanted to get the hell out of here – he always did when Konan was like this. As far as he could tell, most people preferred it when she threw a tantrum on the spot instead of acting like this…

"Uh… no, no, of course not!" he answered. Was it just him, or did his voice sound higher than usual?

Orochimaru huffed and mouthed «wuss» at Kisame. The shark-man shrugged irritably in response; it was true that he didn't deem Konan a fiend, exactly, but she could be pretty darn scary at times. And only a fool would have answered differently than he had. However, his main worry was still that he wanted to fly this coop while he was unscathed.

"Well-this-has-been-very-nice-but-I-really-should-go-see-how-Itachi's-doing-gotta-go-bye!" he said quickly and took off before anyone could object.

For a moment, sparks flew between the two remaining Akatsuki members as they glared at each other. The older one broke the silence:

"I'll have a talk with Leader-sama about this, I swear!" he growled before he swept past the woman – at least, he tried to, but because he was slightly hunched as he walked, the effect was lost to begin with.

"Give it your best shot," Konan challenged him before continuing on her way. After a few steps, she paused to make some hand signs. She **had** promised to take necessary precautions, after all…

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

An hour or two later, Konan approached the door to Sasuke's room yet again. And this time, she wasn't alone.

"Why do you need me, again?" her companion asked, crossing his arms.

"You're the one who said you wanted to see him once he's awake."

"But I was in the middle of arranging next week's schedule!"

"The schedule isn't going anywhere." With a wink and a purr, Konan added: "It's part of your job; you are the leader, after all…"

Pein mumbled something incoherent, but Konan chuckled as if in understanding and softly kissed his cheek.

"The **official** leader," she whispered in his ear.

What nearly had to be the ghostliest of smiles flitted across the man's face before he furtively took Konan's hand and briefly squeezed it.

"You're something else," he told her. Pure adoration resonated in his voice, and it was all just for her to hear.

She merely smiled in return as she knocked on the door and opened it just a bit. From inside, she could hear some rustling noises as Sasuke shifted in his bed. Since she wasn't sure what he was thinking and feeling in that moment, she decided to announce her presence before entering the room – after all, she didn't want him to end up thinking that Orochimaru had returned to try and grope him again.

"Sasuke? It's me, Konan. I'd like to talk to you."

There were some more rustling sounds, then the boy answered cautiously: "Oh… okay…"

Deciding to stick to this strategy in the near future, Konan looked at Pein again.

"Wait here for a moment, okay?"

He nodded, but was otherwise silent as Konan entered the room. But just because she had told him to wait didn't mean that he couldn't sneak a peek on what was going on inside…

It was an act of consideration to ask someone if they were okay, how they were doing, but in this particular case, Konan hesitated for a moment as she tried to think of another way she could ask him that. The question itself just didn't seem to be a wise option, because really, which seven-year-old **was** okay while processing the terrible truth that his family was dead, never to return? In addition to that, she could tell by the look on his face that he was psychically spent, so it surely couldn't hurt to be extra-considerate when asking about his welfare. However, she quickly noticed that she saw no alternative to that question; all that was left to do was to cross her fingers and hope that he would take it well.

"How are you feeling, Sasuke?" she asked.

He looked rather lost for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't know," he answered.

This got to Konan more than she probably let it show. It was all she could do to avoid biting her lower lip. "And… um… is there anything you… want? Something to drink, perhaps?"

Sasuke just stared at her for a moment before bowing his head and balling his hands to fists in his lap. Konan readied herself for his answer.

"…I want… my mother…"

His voice had been quiet to begin with, but the last two words had barely been a whisper. Unbeknownst to him, Konan stiffened. Again, she hadn't exactly thought about the most obvious answer to her question, but this was different from last time. Last time, she had nearly face-palmed because of her own thoughtlessness, but this time she felt no annoyance of any sort. This time, the answer tugged at her heartstrings, and she was torn between the urge to leave the room this instant because she was worried that she wouldn't be able to appease him, and the desire to stay here and wing it, of course hoping that it would turn out alright.

Before her mind could make a decision, she found herself sitting down on the bed next to the boy. He was trembling slightly, and his chest heaved with dry, strangled sobs.

"Sasuke," she said softly.

With a sniffle, he looked up, and even what little light illuminated his eyes was enough to tell her that they were glistening with tears that were about to fall. Nothing else was said as they simply regarded each other. Then Konan beckoned him to come closer. Sasuke just blinked, and a single tear rolled down his cheek. Patiently, though hoping that it would pay off, Konan repeated the gesture. She flashed him an encouraging smile too. Her hopes weren't in vain: slowly, Sasuke pushed the covers back a bit, then crawled over to her. Dreadfully slowly, he reached out and finally touched her cloak, his fingers carefully digging into the fabric as he inched closer. He closed his eyes tightly as he even dared to lean against her, still trying to hold back his tears.

With a now sympathetic smile playing on her lips, Konan put an arm around him and ran her other hand through his hair in a soothing pet. Although this particular situation was new for her, it wasn't exactly an uncomfortable one.

Silent footsteps came to a halt beside her, yet almost instantly she tore her gaze away from Sasuke to find that Pein had abandoned his waiting spot at the door.

He carefully took notice of the look on her face before he slowly looked Sasuke over, from the distinctively spiky back end of his hair to his knees which were pressed against Konan's thighs. But again and again, he stared at the way Sasuke's fingers had dug themselves into Konan's cloak.

Inwardly, she rolled her eyes when she noticed that, but the smile remained on her face. Pein pursed his lips and crossed his arms. It was a signal that couldn't be misunderstood, which was why she finally spoke again:

"Sasuke, there's someone I'd like you to meet."

The young Uchiha peeked up at her. She looked a lot more serious now.

"He is the leader of our organization, the Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki…" Sasuke mumbled. The name didn't ring a bell with him – that made another mystery about his brother. First the police nearly arrested him, then the massacre (he nearly shuddered when he thought about it), and now this. He had never heard anybody mention the Akatsuki… who were they, and what business did Itachi have with them?

It was only then that he actually noticed the man who had joined them. He stiffened, feeling rather intimidated by those eyes and their piercing stare. It didn't help that Pein's mouth was a straight line – it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Sasuke couldn't look away – he wasn't even sure if trying to do that would be a good idea.

After several minutes of utter silence, Konan cleared her throat, clearly hoping to provoke a certain reaction from Pein in particular. But neither he nor Sasuke reacted to that; they just continued to stare at each other as if mesmerized. Frowning, Konan cleared her throat again, a bit louder this time. When nothing happened yet again, she nudged Pein with her foot and said loudly:

"I think that will do now, Pein. You never mentioned staring contests to be part of the ritual of greeting newcomers."

The auburn-haired man grunted. "I was just **looking** at him, Konan."

"**Sure** you were…"

"Well, I was," he all but huffed before focusing on Sasuke again: "And just for the record, you shall address me as «Leader-sama». Understood?"

Sasuke nodded timidly.

"And if the question should ever come up: this is an **organization**, and never, **ever** a club!"

Sasuke shrank back against Konan, nodding vigorously as Pein's voice grew louder. She gave his shoulder a pat and tried to silence Pein with a pointed look. But he didn't get the message.

"A club is the sissy version of what we are! And we're not sissies! Who has ever heard of a group of felons who call themselves a «club»?!"

"Pein…"

"I mean, we may start off by drinking coffee too, and sometimes we even have stupid protocols that need to be followed – that makes even more paperwork for me and gives Zetsu more opportunities to complain about destroying the environment, mind you…"

"**Pein**…"

"But heck, we don't do stupid stuff like collecting chopsticks or something! We're **ambitious**! We –"

"We get the point, Pein, thank you!" Konan interrupted with her patented «Are you quite finished?» look.

Pein had just raised his index finger importantly to emphasize his next point, and even though he fell silent with his mouth slightly agape, the finger remained raised. He looked positively lost for a moment. During the interlude of awkward silence, Sasuke looked from Konan to Pein and back again.

Finally the man lowered his hand and fiddled with his collar while clearing his throat. A blush was all that was missing to make it a perfect gesture of embarrassment.

"Right. So, uh, those were the basics… and there will be more on this later, I suppose. Konan, I need to talk to you," he said in a business-like tone of voice. When Konan nodded in silent agreement, he glanced at Sasuke once again. Two big, innocently questioning eyes stared back at him. A second or two later, Pein turned away and left the room.

Konan seemed to stare into space for a moment before remarking: "Well, that could have gone worse. But it could have gone better too, I guess."

"I'm sorry," Sasuke mumbled, averting his gaze.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for this. It's the first time we're doing this with a child, and as you might know, first appearances are quite important. He's probably dreading that you won't respect him," she explained with a shrug. It wouldn't be something new for her.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "But I… I **will** respect him! Honestly!" he protested, "I mean, you said he's the boss… you know…" And then he was back to mumbling again.

"I'll make sure to tell him that if you don't mind me doing so. He's bound to appreciate it," Konan assured him.

"I hope so…" Sasuke replied in a small voice.

With a sigh, Konan stood up, and without her needing to say or do anything, Sasuke crept back underneath the covers. When he lay still again, she gently brushed one of his bangs out of his face.

"I'll go talk to Pein now, but I'll come back later and bring you something to eat and drink. It's been a while since you last had something, and I'm sure you'll feel better afterwards. Does that sound like a plan to you too?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered, even though there was still too much on his mind for him to really care about nourishment. He really didn't feel hungry or thirsty.

Perhaps Konan could tell that he was thinking along those lines, for she said: "That's good. And even though it might not look like it right now, it will be alright, Sasuke. You'll see."

And with those words, she left him alone again. Sasuke curled up into a ball as he watched the candle which still burned beside his bed. He didn't know if it had been short to begin with, but it was burning rather low now, and he did like a little bit of light around him in this new place – maybe if he asked Konan nicely later, she would replace it so it would definitely last a while longer.

She may be quite nice, Sasuke figured as he watched the flame flicker, but all the same, he missed his mother terribly. If she were alive, she would be sitting next to him, tenderly caressing him as she saw him off to sleep. In a soft voice that was little more than a whisper, she would wish him sweet dreams, and maybe she would sing a lullaby as well. Sasuke thought about it so intensely that he could hear her in his head, and it made him long for her so much that he nearly couldn't stand it. He whimpered and buried his face into the pillow. He missed his father too, despite certain hardships they had been through; there were many things he had wanted to ask him, and surely there had been many other things the man could have taught him besides the Great Fireball Technique.

But now none of that would ever come to be, and all that remained was the ghostly echo of his mother's voice as the last trace of something he had taken for granted, never imagining that it would get stolen from him so cruelly.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When Konan caught up with Pein, he was facing a wall and repeatedly hit his forehead with his fist while muttering feverishly:

"Blew it, blew it, blew it…!"

Konan just shook her head before she interfered by catching the fist and thus thwarting Pein's attempts to cause more potential brain-damage to himself.

"Pein, cut it out. You didn't mess it up."

"Yes I did. You heard me."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did!"

"No!" Konan insisted, shaking her head again. "Look, Sasuke doesn't think you're a goofball or anything. He respects your authority; he told me that just a moment ago."

"You think so?" Pein said thoughtfully.

"I don't think – I **know**."

The leader sighed. "If Kisame hadn't told me about our… «meeting» tonight, I wouldn't even have mentioned it. How often have I told him that we're **not** a club?!"

"I stopped counting ages ago," Konan confessed.

"I swear… I don't care if he's a shark or not, but sometimes he really does have the attention span of a goldfish!" Pein grumbled as the pair retreated to his office to do some paperwork.

Konan's only response was an amused laugh.

* * *

Please review - it would make me extremely happy! I'll reply instantly to all reviews I get before Friday, but after that, you might have to wait a while until I reply, because then I'll be on vacation for a week, and Mom already said that computers are strictly forbidden during that time. So yeah... that'll be tough, but trust me, I know better than to argue. Just wanted to let you guys know why certain responses would be delayed!

I hope all is well with everybody, and see you with the next installment!

_~dd_


	3. To have a heart

_(resurfaces from oblivion)_ Um... hi guys. Damn, it sure has been a while, has it? So much for my plans for updating right after I'm back from vacation... that was in friggin' July! And now it's already September... can someone tell me where all that time went?!

This is the last update I can make before I'll go to college. Like I said at the beginning of the story, I will have to put much more time into studying than I used to so far. Still, I will try my best not to keep you waiting for too long, I promise. It's just that this is really important... and if I screw this up, then I'm dead.

You'll hear this from me again, but be warned - I don't think highly of this chapter, not at all. I wrote a tiny part of it quite a while ago, but then my muse abandoned me when another obsession entered my life. Fine time for that... _(sigh)_ And now I've been watching practically nothing else but "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs" and "Beauty & the Beast" for the past two days... for real! (Ah, those classic movies... I missed watching them! ^__^) But thanks to a dear friend of mine, **SwissYaoiFangirl**, I got inspired to continue my writing again! You might not believe this, but that inspiration actually came from watching "A Very Potter Musical" - check it out, it's epic win! And for some reason, I caught myself thinking that their Voldemort somehow reminds me of Hidan... and voilà, my muse was back! Thank goodness!

So in short: brace yourselves for potential crappiness. Don't get your hopes up... most of this was written today. With the same two songs from "Fern Gully" playing in the background over and over again. _(lol)_

* * *

"This had better be good!"

"Yeah! Where the hell is she? Doesn't she think that we've got better things to do on a Saturday night?"

"I even postponed my date with a hazel bush!"

The whole table fell silent as the other Akatsuki members stared at Zetsu.

"What?" the member in question asked huffily. "She's gorgeous! Now she'll think that I dumped her!"

"Hazel bushes?! Zetsu, are you getting desperate?" Kisame asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Am not! What makes you say that?"

"Well, I just thought… You know, we were all cool with the monstrous Venus Fly Traps you were seeing for a while…" Agreeing nods from the others. "…But a puny little bush? You could do better than that."

"**See? I **_**told**_** you we shouldn't have given up on them!**"

"You told me?! That's a laugh! You just couldn't stand the fact that someone had an even more monstrous appetite than you!"

"**Lies! It's all lies!**"

Sweatdropping, Sasori tapped Zetsu's shoulder. "Um, Zetsu… I think you're getting a tad bit side-tracked here…"

"Huh?" In the middle of an argument with himself, he paused and looked around. Kisame looked slightly irritated, and Kakuzu was busy picking something out from between his teeth with his tentacles. "Oh yeah… This isn't over yet!" he told his black side with a hiss.

"**It's far from over, buster**," came the immediate retort.

Zetsu's white side harrumphed and picked up where he had left off before:

"Like you're one to talk, shark boy! When's the last time you got some action, huh?"

"At least you wouldn't see me hanging out with a sardine!"

"Of course not! With your luck, you'd end up eating your date!"

"**Mmh, fish…**"

"Hey! When a guy is hungry, a guy is hungry! Don't make me get the weed killer!"

"Oh yeah? Don't make me get the sushi knife!"

"**Shark sushi… argh, stop it, you're making me hungry all over again…!**"

They leaned over the table and growled at each other, but before a fight could ensue, a voice interrupted from the now unwatched head of the table:

"Boys, no fighting at the table. Sit down right now. There will be no weed killers or sushi knives, is that clear?"

Five heads turned to see Konan standing there with a stern look on her face. She spared the two squabblers in particular a very pointed look before speaking again.

"If you absolutely **must** discuss the touchy subject that is your love lives, then do so outside. But now we have more important matters at hand. I hereby declare this conference open." She sat down and folded her hands on the table while Kisame and Zetsu resumed their seats, though glaring daggers at each other one last time.

"More important matters? There's nothing more important than money, Konan – we've been through this plenty of times already," Kakuzu commented with a theatrical sigh.

"Your precious money isn't running away from you. What we're talking about here is Itachi – or more specifically, what he brought along."

"The kid?" Zetsu asked.

"Yes, the kid. That is his little brother Sasuke. Your job will be the one of integrating him as good as possible. It will require patience, tactfulness and commit–"

"Aw, Konan! Babysitting?! You can't be serious!" Kisame groaned. She gave him a look that would have made a flower wither.

"Yeah, I agree with Kisame," Sasori interjected. Now the death glare was fixated on him, but he stared right back. "You know that we can't pull stunts like that. Remember the last time we tried such a thing? I believe it was Leader-sama himself who vowed never to take such a course of action ever again."

"That was one party those kids will never forget, no matter how much help they get. At least we got paid in advance," Kakuzu remembered, grinning as he thought about the fairly decent sum they had received despite having done not exactly a satisfactory job.

"That was a birthday party, a one-day ordeal. This is a different thing entirely. You could at least **try** this time," Konan advised them.

"I'd be glad to help," Orochimaru offered. He was the only one who wasn't sitting at the table, but leaning against the counter instead.

"Your help is the one kind of help we can do well without in this case. But say, why don't you join us at the table, Orochimaru? We'd hear you a lot better if you took a seat here," Konan said sweetly, but with a wicked smile playing on her lips.

"She's right. What's up with that, anyway? You're making me nervous, slinking around behind us like that," Sasori agreed, turning around to glance suspiciously at the snake-sannin.

"Um… uh… no, no, I'd prefer to remain standing this time, thank you," Orochimaru hurriedly rejected the offer, dismissively waving his hands.

"But it's so unlike you. You even ate dinner without sitting down," Zetsu pointed out.

"Look, I'd rather not talk about it, okay?!" Orochimaru tried to shush them while one hand gingerly rubbed his backside. Kisame sniggered when he noticed that, and Konan couldn't quite restrain a triumphant chuckle.

"Well then, have it your way," she told him in that same mild tone of voice even though she knew perfectly well what was the matter with him. Then she refocused on the other members. "Now, back to Sasuke…"

"What is in it for us?" Zetsu interrupted.

"**Hopefully a leg or two**," his black side chimed in.

"Certainly not," Konan huffed.

"Payment?" Kakuzu suggested, his eyes gleaming expectantly.

"Additional vacation?" Sasori piped up.

"No and no," the blue-haired woman answered. "What you'll get is appreciation, respect… and maybe even the love of a child, if you do it right."

The other members (save Orochimaru) exchanged glances, then Kakuzu voiced their identical thought:

"That sucks."

Konan frowned.

"We don't work that way, Konan, and you know that," Kisame pointed out.

"I was hoping that you'd pull yourselves together for once and turn over a new leaf," she responded immediately, not missing a beat.

"Come on… the kid's got you, what would he need us for?" Kakuzu asked exasperatedly, beginning to get impatient. His beautiful plans of counting money all evening long was going down the drain, and he didn't like that outlook at all.

Konan sighed. "I can't do this on my own. If I could, I would… but I can't. Come on, you guys – Sasuke has no one left besides Itachi. I'm sure he'd appreciate all the support he gets."

"What's wrong with Itachi? I mean, he's his brother…" Sasori trailed off.

"It's not that simple. You see, prior to his return, he had to complete a mission…" Briefly, she told them everything she knew about that mission. When she had finished, a moment of silence fell, but then Kisame whistled.

"Wow… for his age, I'd say that's pretty hardcore."

"Mmh. And the problem is…?" Kakuzu waited for Konan to elaborate.

She complied, though not in such a calm fashion anymore. "What do you mean, what's the problem?! How would **you** feel if your brother suddenly killed your whole family?"

Some rather indifferent glances were exchanged, then they all shrugged.

Konan growled. "Is it too much to ask of you… to have a heart? He's only eight!"

"It's a tough world, Konan," Sasori replied blandly. Agreeing nods from the others.

"Are you sure you don't want my help?" Orochimaru whined in the background.

"I'm absolutely sure!" Konan spat. "You're not patient, you wouldn't be tactful, and your commitment would be the wrong sort! As for the rest of you…" She paused, struggling to find the proper words. "…I don't even know where to start!" she concluded with frustration.

"In that case, could we drop this? The night's still young," Kakuzu suggested.

But that was the wrong thing to say. With an angry cry, Konan rose so suddenly that her chair overturned with a clatter. She slammed her fist down on the table and glared menacingly at each of them.

"Idiots! Morons! Why can't you for once treat others like you'd like to get treated too if you were in their place?! I'm not asking for much, just a little sympathy! But it's always the hard way or no way at all with you guys, isn't it?! You're impossible! I was willing to have a thorough discussion with you and let everyone make their own suggestions for their contribution, but the fact that you show no interest at all disappoints me beyond all measure! I don't care if we're S-ranked criminals – this is just purely and utterly despicable!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

One might still have been able to hear a pin drop in the silence that still remained as Konan left the room quickly, feeling unnerved. She slammed the door behind her, and her cloak billowed behind her as swift steps took her down the hallway in search of Pein. Usually, she had her way with the others, but it seemed as if when it involved having a heart, they were the most stubborn creatures on the planet. But really, was it that much to ask for to show some compassion for a boy who had lost his entire family**,** save his brother? She would keep on trying to get through to them, but perhaps she could also count on some help from Pein. A little "men's talk" could be all they needed.

Speaking of whom… in the dim light of the corridor, she could see the red kanji sign of his office up ahead. She slowed down, wondering if it was still too early. Was his own little meeting already over? If there was one thing that not even **she** was allowed to do, it was to interrupt those meetings. What kind of punishment awaited those who disobeyed that rule was still a mystery – probably because no one had lived to tell the tale so far. In any case, several steps away from the door, Konan stopped for good, unsure what to do. She was dead meat if the meeting was still in progress when she entered… or maybe it was over by now, and Pein was thinking it over…

After a little while, the door opened and Pein stepped out into the hallway. Konan had only just felt a smile tugging at her lips when it died already.

Pein didn't look very good. She had never seen him like this after a meeting: he looked much paler than usual and his breathing was uneven. He obviously was under a lot of stress.

"…Pein?" she asked carefully, testing if he was in the mood to talk.

He just held up a hand tiredly to silence her, but took her by the elbow anyhow and dragged her away from the office. She quickly glanced over her shoulder, but she saw no one at the door, no one leaving the room. Had the meeting been that bad that he was in such a hurry to get away?

"Konan, what are you doing here? I thought you were holding a meeting with the others after dinner." His voice would have been enough to tell how stressed he was. But knowing what he could be like when she made comments on certain moods of his, Konan truthfully answered his question.

"I did, but sometimes I really wonder where we found these people. Is it that hard to show a little bit of compassion? Surely **they** would appreciate it too if they were in Sasuke's shoes and others should show some sympathy for such fates?! I **will** try again – they haven't heard the last from me yet, not by a mile – but perhaps you should try talking to them too –"

"About that, Konan…" Pein sighed heavily. He also paused briefly, then continued: "I'm not sure if we can go through with this."

Having gotten carried away by her previous rant, Konan rolled her eyes. "It would just be a little men's talk, Pein. It wouldn't hurt anyone of them."

"That's not the issue. I'm talking about Sasuke."

"I thought we had already talked about that." Konan's face darkened as she all but glared at him.

"Yes, but now I've had another talk about it," Pein retorted pointedly. "Now he knows for sure that Sasuke is here…"

"What else did he think? He saw Itachi leave with him, didn't he?" Konan was bristling.

"Yes, but I presume he was hoping that somehow, Itachi would dispose of him anyhow." When Konan raised an eyebrow skeptically, he frowned, and his voice became louder. "Look, how should I know?! It's not like I could read his mind or anything! Who knows what he's thinking?!"

"You can't expect me to know how a crazy's mind works," Konan shot back. "And I do intend on keeping that promise we made."

"Konan…"

"Give me one reason why we shouldn't do exactly that." Her voice sounded just as cold as her eyes looked.

"Because there weren't supposed to be any survivors. Itachi defied his orders by sparing Sasuke."

"So in other words, it's because **he** wills it. I meant a **good** reason, Pein." She was beginning to sound impatient – but in response, so did he.

"Well, can't **you** think of one?! You know who he is and what he can be like when things really don't go his way! Would you fight him if he went after Sasuke right now?!"

"Yes," she answered in a heartbeat.

Pein narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't. You know that we cannot defeat him just like that."

"I don't care; all I know is that we made a promise to Itachi and that he's counting on us. If you intend to break your word, you probably should name a better reason than the one that someone simply wills it differently," she told him, crossing her arms.

"And you should keep in mind who we're talking about! I… I can't believe how you'd practically throw your life away for a kid we've hardly even spoken to so far!" Pein threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Then don't believe it. See how I care," Konan snorted, then turned on her heel and stalked off in the direction from which she had come.

Pein glared for a moment, but then a look of ruefulness appeared on his face.

"Konan! Konan, wait!"

But she didn't wait, and just after he finished calling her, she vanished in the dim light of the hallway. Snorting with displeasure, Pein quickly turned away and shuffled off to his room.

"Fine. Be like that, then. It's not as if I care… sort of…" he added in a mumble.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Itachi looked first to his left, then to his right before he quietly opened the door. Like a shadow, he stepped into the room. As soon as he saw the silhouette of a small form lying in the bed, he didn't take his eyes off it as he came closer. At the foot of the bed, he stopped and stared at the boy's face for a moment. A soft sigh of relief escaped his lips: Sasuke was sound asleep. He knew that his little brother had suddenly gotten confronted with a harsh reality and that that would take a dreadful toll on him, but now he looked more peaceful than he had expected him to.

"Sasuke, I'm so sorry…" he whispered.

The younger Uchiha didn't react in any way, blissfully unaware of his secret visitor. Itachi glanced back at the door, then walked around the bed until he was right at Sasuke's side. The closer he was to him, the greater his own pain and ache became; he wished for nothing more than to explain why things had had to end in such a way, and hopefully Sasuke would understand and be able to forgive him. But Itachi also reminded himself that he mustn't put too much hope in that, for if he was completely honest, he did think that it was a bit much to ask of Sasuke. And yet… he feared what he would do if it turned out that he had lost his sibling's love. It was his certain source of happiness, the one thing that had kept him going when he felt down.

Being so close to Sasuke, he no longer dared to speak out loud, fearing that he might disturb the boy's sleep and prevent him from getting the rest he needed. Instead, he spoke to him in his thoughts:

'_Otouto… I wish I could let you know how sorry I am. And I hope you will forgive me and listen to me whenever we'll get the chance to talk to each other again. I hope that despite everything, you will remember that I will forever be your brother and that I love you. If there is one thing I pray you don't forget, then it's that.__'_

His hand reached out for him, but Itachi hesitated. Dare he take the risk of touching Sasuke, thus possibly awakening him? If only his little brother weren't so hard to resist…

'_I don't deserve this. Heck, I shouldn't even be here. But Sasuke… who knows when I'll get an opportunity like this again? Forgive me, little brother…'_

His fingertips lightly touched Sasuke's forehead. But the boy didn't awaken; he didn't even stir. He just slept on, breathing slowly and deeply. Itachi breathed a sigh of relief, not even having noticed that he had been holding his breath. Thank goodness. So far, so good… maybe he could afford to stay just a little longer. If he was really careful, then Sasuke would remain asleep, and he could enjoy a few more secret moments at his side.

He knelt down beside the bed and tenderly tucked one of Sasuke's long bangs behind his ear. He didn't dare take his eyes off Sasuke's face, just in case the boy would wake up. But that wasn't the only reason; he simply loved to look at Sasuke, especially now that he looked so peaceful and innocent… unlike how he had looked at him back in Konoha. The youngster's expression had nearly torn his heart apart on the spot. It had been more than enough to make him dread the moment when Sasuke would see him again. What he would say and do… Itachi shook his head a bit, trying to put those thoughts aside for the moment. Affectionately, he ran his fingers through Sasuke's hair, over and over again. Against his better judgment, he couldn't stop repeating that one motion. Soon he figured that he would need a sign before he could stop, because now he was powerless to stop by himself… all he was doing was telling himself that one more pet certainly couldn't hurt… and then another… and another…

Suddenly, his fingers buried themselves into the dark hair strands a bit to get even more out of the touch. And this time, Sasuke reacted: with a soft sigh, he shifted until he was lying on his stomach and buried his face into the pillow a bit. An adorable smile played on his lips, and a sound that could almost be described as a purr escaped his throat when he exhaled.

Itachi thought his heart skipped a beat or two when Sasuke moved. He held his breath until his brother had made himself comfortable again, and even then he released it as slowly and quietly as possible.

That did it, he told himself. He had already lingered here much longer than he should have, especially since he shouldn't even have come here in the first place. He had to leave now before his antics would wake Sasuke up. They would probably meet soon enough, but he believed that nearly any sight would be more welcome to Sasuke upon waking up than the sight of… a murderer. Or perhaps Orochimaru. Maybe someday, Itachi thought with a pinch of amusement, maybe someday he would ask Sasuke what he would have preferred. Someday in the distant future…

"Sleep well, otouto," he whispered, barely hearing himself, "I'm sorry that I disturbed you."

There was one last thing that he couldn't resist doing, however: he ever so softly kissed the back of Sasuke's hand, which was half-buried beneath the pillow. Before the bittersweet temptation to stay for another moment could overcome him, Itachi stood up again and swiftly but silently left the room. With a 'click', the door closed behind him, and only now did he dare to breathe normally again.

"…Itachi!" he heard someone exclaim.

Startled, he whirled around to find that Konan had walked in on him. Her eyes darted from him to the door and back again, and when two and two were quickly put together, she gave him an incredulous look.

"Konan, I can explain…" Itachi began, but faltered instead of continuing. Could he really explain himself? Now more than ever, he wished he hadn't paid this secret visit in the first place. It had been sheer bliss to be at Sasuke's side, but that changed nothing about the fact that it was forbidden. Konan had told him so when she had checked on him before dinner.

"How is he, Itachi?" Konan asked quietly, stepping up to him.

Somewhat surprised that he hadn't gotten told off, Itachi answered: "He's fast asleep. No signs of nightmares or likewise…"

"That's good to hear," she muttered.

Itachi waited in vain for her to continue, and soon he couldn't stand the suspense any longer.

"Konan, listen, I know I shouldn't have been here, but I just had to –" he rambled.

"Shush, Itachi! Not here!" she silenced him with a pointed look. He obeyed instantly. With the ghost of a smile, she put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, you should rest while you still can. You'll have missions on your hands soon enough."

Silently, Itachi allowed her to lead him away. Still waiting for the inevitable, he stared into space. Konan let him be for several moments, but then she waved her hand in front of his face a bit to get his attention.

"Itachi, look at me," she asked of him.

Hesitantly, he did.

"I know what you're thinking… but I'm not mad at you. I'm just a bit surprised that you actually went in there. You… did do that, didn't you?" she asked reassuringly.

Still looking somewhat guilty, Itachi nodded. "I just couldn't resist. I had to see him, I had to know how he was doing. I appreciate that you told me so yourself earlier on, but I had to see it for myself."

"I understand that. He's your brother, after all."

"Yes… he's everything to me…" Itachi murmured.

Noticing the forlorn expression in his eyes, Konan gently forced him to stop. Blinking, Itachi gazed at her.

"I know how much you're worrying about your first encounter with Sasuke here, but believe me when I say that I'll do whatever I can to help you two find your way to each other again. He might reject you at first –"

"**Might**?" Itachi repeated in disbelief, "He **will**, without a doubt. And that might not change for as long as I live."

Konan shook her head. "Try to have faith. You're brothers, and unless I've drawn a very wrong conclusion from what you told me, you share a strong bond. If he is given plenty of time, we have plenty more patience and he is repeatedly reminded of what you two should mean to each other, I'm sure that he will forgive you someday."

"I hope so… more than anything else…" Itachi mumbled.

In that moment, Konan was strongly reminded of the way Sasuke had looked when she had asked him how he was doing. She did not wish to bid him goodnight like this – and so, although hesitantly at first, she hugged him. He almost seemed to be petrified for a moment, but then she felt him return the embrace, holding on to her in the same careful way Sasuke had after she had "saved" him from Orochimaru. Noticing these similarities made her smile.

"It'll be alright, Itachi," she whispered, gingerly patting his back. "One way or another, it will be alright. You'll see."

"…Thank you, Konan…" a somewhat shaky reply reached her ears.

"You're welcome," she told him, then they let go of each other again. To her relief, Itachi managed a weak smile.

"I… I'll be on my way, then. You don't need to see me off," he said.

"If you insist. See you tomorrow," Konan replied, gracing him with a smile. Itachi nodded, then she set off, heading for a certain leader's room. Her anger from before had subsided, and now she thought that she ought to have another talk with Pein. It was worth a try.

Tomorrow would be a new beginning for everybody.

* * *

So... like I said, nothing special. This is the first time I'm saying this: feel free to flame me. The beginning didn't turn out nearly as funny as I had (long ago) imagined it to, and the rest... meh. I kept thinking that I must keep it funny at all costs, but then I remembered that actually, this isn't supposed to be a humorous story, save for some comical relief by the Akatsuki. I'll try to do better next time. But they have a serious side too, people...

Anyhow, this chapter has been written, and once that has happened, I rarely can go back and redo it. Especially now that I have practically no more time left. Forgive me, my friends. Forgive me for the ridiculously long wait and for this... work. _(prays)_

CC, I've started writing your overdue birthday fic. I'm so sorry, girl... but it's in the works now!

Hoping that I haven't wasted too much of your time,

_~dd_


	4. Broken bond

What's up, guys? I'm back! Seriously; call me crazy, but while I was coming home from a friend's place (we had been doing school work), I finally got inspired to finish this chapter! In fact, I had just finished reading "Under the Dome" by Stephen King (to anyone who likes reading his books: it's an absolutely brilliant story! I could hardly stop reading, and I thought it was purely exciting from the beginning till the very end! ^_^), and after recovering from having finished that awesome novel, I was suddenly writing like crazy! And since I am the type of person who quickly pushes certain projects aside when being kissed by the muse, I decided to truly finish this chapter and post it before the new year is upon us!

All I can say about this is that I hope I haven't lost my touch. That would be too cruel...! Well, let's see what you think, shall we? ;-)

(Oh, and if you can spare the time: please check out the poll on my profile...)

* * *

Sasuke didn't look good at all, Konan thought when she went to him the next morning. He looked tired and distraught – and almost frightened for a moment when she touched his shoulder with the intention of waking him up. Upon getting asked if he would join her for breakfast, Sasuke claimed that he wasn't hungry even though his stomach growled, thus suggesting otherwise. Konan tried to convince him that he needed to eat something in order to get his strength back, and finally – though still looking as if he would rather let it be – Sasuke agreed and followed her to the kitchen.

Breakfast itself was a mostly silent ordeal: Sasuke listlessly pushed the cereal around in his bowl, and despite Konan's repeated, patient reminders for him to eat, most of it became quite soggy by the time it finally found its way into his mouth. Konan took equally long to finish a cup of coffee, watching Sasuke over the rim of the mug as she drank. It pained her to see him like this, especially he had seemed to be recovering well when she had seen him off to bed the other night. Finally, she downed the last of the coffee, then she suggested that Sasuke should take a bath so he would hopefully feel a bit better. A quiet "okay" was all she got in response.

"…How did you sleep, Sasuke?" she asked carefully as they headed for the bathroom.

"Good at first, but then… I had nightmares," Sasuke answered.

Konan was rather glad that Itachi wasn't there to hear that; knowing how worried he was about Sasuke, he might blame himself for that because he had secretly visited Sasuke. "Do you want to talk about it?" she offered.

"I was there again… at home…" Sasuke recalled with a somewhat absent look on his face. "Haha gave me my lunch and said she'd see me after my shuriken practice… then I was at school… but when I got home, she was dead. Chichi was dead too. And everyone else except… except…" Unable to finish, Sasuke swallowed and stared down at the floor, trying to tell himself to get a grip.

Meanwhile, Konan tried to think of something to say, if there was such a thing at all. It would be ridiculous to say that it was "tragic"; Sasuke already knew that, and anyone could see that he was on the verge of loudly despairing. There was no need to push him over that edge. When she was unable to think of something reasonable, she lightly put a hand on his shoulder in a sympathetic gesture so he would know that his words hadn't fallen on deaf ears.

Sasuke took a deep, though somewhat shuddering breath, then he carried on.

"It just makes no sense to me. I don't know what they did that someone would want them dead, especially if –"

Abruptly, he silenced and stopped in his tracks, eyes wide as he stared down the hallway. Puzzled, Konan studied his face for a moment before following his gaze – and when she did, the reason for Sasuke's behavior became perfectly apparent.

Not too far away, a door had opened, and now Itachi stood in the hallway. Of course, he had spotted them instantly, and like Sasuke, he had frozen. He was dressed in the attire that the male members wore beneath their cloaks.

The silence seemed to be very loud as the two brothers watched each other, nearly unblinking and almost like a pair of statues. Konan was left to try and brace herself for whatever might happen. After what seemed to be almost an eternity, Itachi slowly began to approach them. He never took his eyes off Sasuke, and Konan was quite tempted to believe that he was silently trying to tell Sasuke that there was nothing to be afraid of. But with each step he took, Sasuke's expression became more troubled, and he tensed up as if to prepare himself to either run or – if necessary – lash out.

All the sadness, disappointment and anger were boiling within him. He was struggling to find the connection between the brother he had loved and adored for as long as he could remember, and the murderer of his entire family. Where was it? Had he missed something? How long had Itachi been planning it, and why?!

'_I… I thought I knew him, but… but now I'm not so sure anymore…!'_

Itachi was drawing ever closer, and it was only when he stood right in front of them that Sasuke abruptly bowed his head, staring determinedly at the floor. He balled his hands to fists and bit his lower lip to restrain either a sob or a yell. Itachi sighed sadly and ever so softly when Sasuke looked away. This hurt him beyond belief, and he hadn't even heard a word from the boy yet. He could still hear Sasuke's cry of "Murderer! Murderer!" and his declaration that his older brother would never commit such a horrible crime. But the truth was undeniable.

He could tell that Sasuke wished he weren't there. The way he stood there so stiffly, refusing to look at him, his fists trembling with the effort to stay calm… Although he was aware that he didn't deserve any better, it hurt all the same.

"Sasuke…" he murmured.

The sound of his voice made Sasuke flinch and shrink against Konan, grabbing her cloak tightly this time while his eyes darted to and fro as he fitfully tried not to look at his sibling, even if it would only be to spare him a hateful glare.

Konan put an arm around him and gently squeezed him. Just one word had fallen between the brothers, yet that was enough to convince her that the road to repairing the bond between them would be a long and rocky one – perhaps even longer and rockier than she had initially thought it would be.

A movement caught her eye when Itachi shifted, still watching Sasuke in a silent plea for him to look up again. Instead, Sasuke kept staring at the floor as if his very life depended on it. Itachi opened his mouth to speak again, but Konan motioned in time for him to remain silent. The look on his face just then made her feel almost bad for doing that, but she wanted to avoid putting Sasuke under more stress.

"Come on, Sasuke," she prompted the boy, gently forcing him to move on. Still not looking up, he complied. Konan lingered just long enough to whisper:

"Please be patient, Itachi…"

She got no response except for that same lost, rueful look he had sported last night. But it was only visible for a moment until Itachi turned away and shuffled off. Konan, on the other hand, hurried to catch up with Sasuke. He was completely lost in a world of his own; and not a pleasant one, that was for sure. And now he was looking at the floor as if it were to blame for the whole ordeal. If there was a wrong moment to say anything, this was it, therefore Konan remained silent as she guided him to the bathroom.

Once there, Sasuke stayed put like a clockwork toy that needed to get wound up again while Konan turned on the water to fill the tub, also adding a bit of bubble bath to it.

"You'd like a warm bath, wouldn't you, Sasuke? I just hope I'll get this right, otherwise you'll have to tell me if you'd want it warmer or cooler, okay?"

There was a moment of silence. She hadn't expected him to answer right away, but when she continued to wait in vain for an answer, she became really concerned. Just then, a sob sounded out behind her.

Almost hesitantly, she turned around to discover that Sasuke was in tears. His posture was still practically the same, trembling fists and all, but now his cheeks were glistening with tears in the room's light. It was a heartbreaking sight.

"Sasuke…"

Sadness resonated in her voice, for she could barely stand to see him struggle so much to maintain self-control, now actually shaking with the effort to do so. The tears kept leaking steadily out of his tightly closed eyes and cascading down to his chin before dropping to the floor.

"No, Sasuke, please don't cry…"

Konan didn't even bother to actually stand up as she turned away from the tub to comfort Sasuke. She wrapped her arms around him and held the boy as tightly as she dared to without risking to hurt him. With the grasp of someone who was drowning but was now being rescued, he latched onto her, this time not merely clinging to her cloak, but to the arm beneath it. Several sobs escaped his throat, then his grip briefly tightened until it was almost painful… and then he screamed in anguish. Although her cloak muffled the sound a bit, it still set Konan's teeth on edge, making her wince. He cried out anew, first crying for his mother, then for his father.

"_**Why**__?!"_

Loudly and clearly, in that awful, sorrowful pitch. Konan prayed that he would calm down soon, particularly for his own benefit. Until then, she would do whatever she could to appease him; she began whispering into his ear, the usual things: "Don't cry", "It'll be alright" and so on. She figured it might not mean much to him, but perhaps it meant a little something, and for her, anything was better than to just sit there like a statue when he was in dire need of comfort.

Despite Sasuke's sobbing, she heard a noise at the doorway and turned her head, fearing the worst – only to breathe a sigh of relief when it was Kisame. His mouth was slightly open, undoubtedly because he had been about to ask her what was going on when he found her kneeling in the bathroom, clutching a shaking form. And Kisame, not dumb, drew the right conclusion to answer his own question. He may have groaned and griped about the whole "babysitting" concept, but now he looked as if he honestly wanted to ask if she needed some help. Konan shook her head, however, signaling that she could handle it. Kisame hesitated, and she briefly let go of Sasuke to beckon the shark-man to move along. Finally, he did as he was told and all but made a beeline for the kitchen, where he would find Itachi sitting at the table, lost in thoughts.

Meanwhile, Sasuke concentrated on calming down; he was starting to feel that uncomfortable pressure just above his eyes, a sure omen of an impending headache. That always happened when he cried like this – although he couldn't recall to have ever felt so lost before – and he wasn't the only one, Mikoto had told him. Thinking about that (and seeing his mother's face in his mind's eye) nearly set him off again, but he gritted his teeth instead, for the sooner he calmed down, the less bad the headache would be and the sooner it would be gone again.

"Nii-san…" he whispered in a voice that was hardly more than a croak. Konan heard it anyhow, but it would be a while before she would hear it again.

Falling silent because Sasuke did seem to be calming down again, she continued to soothingly and gingerly pat his back until even his sobbing subsided to sniffles. Now the atmosphere in the bathroom itself lost its tension.

"…Konan?"

"Yeah?"

"M'sorry," Sasuke mumbled. And he was; he was sorry for crying his eyes out in the arms of a woman he hardly knew.

She fidgeted, and for a moment Sasuke thought she might give him a kiss. It turned out to be a nuzzle instead, but if Sasuke was completely honest, he didn't mind it.

"You don't need to apologize, Sasuke. I…" She lowered her voice, as if she were confiding a secret to him. "I know how you feel, better than you think. Trust me."

With a snuffle, Sasuke looked up at her and blinked questioningly. She merely gave him a small smile in return.

_There will be a time and place to talk about that, but not here, and not now._

He decided not to persist, being sure that Konan had a reason why she didn't elaborate right now, and besides, he was feeling rather jaded.

"I think I'll take my bath now," he said flatly.

Konan nodded and offered: "Shall I turn around?"

Sasuke shrugged. She smiled warmly at him, then turned around. And once she did, Sasuke was glad for a reason he couldn't explain. He snuffled heartily again while he undressed, then got into the water, where many but not all of the bubbles had ceased to exist in the meantime. Konan turned around again after a few seconds and sat down beside the tub. Sasuke began to listlessly move the remaining bubbles around, and even though he was staring into space and seemed to be completely out of it, she could tell that he was thinking, hence she didn't say anything. After a while, Sasuke finally asked timidly:

"Konan? What will happen now… you know, with me?"

He had expected her to think up an answer first, but instead she answered promptly: "We'll look after you. I know that this… this new situation is very hard for you, but we'd be willing to do our best to give you everything you need."

This "new situation" being the loss of his parents, of course. It still seemed unreal that he was an orphan now – and it was all Itachi's fault. Like all the other times he had thought about Itachi since the massacre, he wondered once more if he had been a fool to trust him so blindly. Anger resurfaced within him due to this train of thought, but the sorrow overwhelmed it. Nevertheless, he tried to keep a straight face by reminding himself that Fugaku wouldn't have approved of seeing him cry.

_Be a man. _

That's what their father had told them – not only Itachi, but his other son as well – repeatedly. Sasuke figured that he may still be a boy, but that did not stop him from giving it a try.

Konan watched him ruefully as these thoughts crossed his mind, then she reached out and touched his shoulder, which was still dry.

"Hey," she said softly.

Sasuke looked at her.

"I know that no one can ever replace your parents, but like I said before, we'd give it our very best shot. At least you would have **somebody**, hmm?" she asked.

"I… I guess…" Sasuke replied slowly, thinking it over, and despite all the sadness, anger and confusion he felt just then, he managed to smile a bit at her. "Thank you, Konan."

She offered him a brighter smile in return. "It's nothing, Sasuke. Really." The smile had encouraged her to try and get his mind off the massacre for a while – he would be thinking about it often enough. "Shall I show you a trick?"

"Trick?" Sasuke repeated.

The blue-haired woman merely nodded, and he watched her reach down… and then she was holding a piece of paper in her hand. He assumed she had pulled it out of her sleeve (he didn't yet exactly how correct this guess was). It wasn't a very big piece of paper, so he was even more amazed when she folded it quite a few times. Somehow, he doubted that he could have copied that, and that could most definitely be said for what happened next: when she held out the paper to him in her palm, it suddenly took flight. On paper wings it flew – almost **danced** – around the bubbles. Awestruck, Sasuke watched it.

"…Wow…" was all he managed to say just then.

Konan looked pleased.

"How did you do it?" he inquired.

"I'm a specialist when it comes to origami, Sasuke," she answered.

She almost had to be **more** than just a specialist, Sasuke thought as he raised one hand out of the water in an attempt to touch the paper butterfly. But just like a real butterfly, it cleverly avoided his fingers, for if it landed there now, it wouldn't take flight again. A little paper bird soon joined it, and to Sasuke, it looked as if they were playing a game of tag. When the butterfly's paper wings brushed his nose, he even giggled.

Konan gladly watched this, especially considering what Sasuke was going through. She remembered being skeptical too at first about having a child in their ranks, but those doubts had gotten washed away, and her will to keep the promise she (and Pein) had made to Itachi was stronger than ever.

However, neither she nor Sasuke noticed that they were being watched by someone who preferred to remain in the shadows of the hallway…

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Later on, after Sasuke had gotten dressed again (and claiming that he did indeed feel a bit better now), Konan announced that it was time for him to get introduced to the others.

"The odds that they'll all be in one place are very slim, so while we look for them, I might as well show you the rest of the hideout," she said.

Of course, Sasuke agreed to this, and so they set off in search of the other members. Konan knocked on each of their rooms just to make sure nobody was being left out, but surprisingly enough, no one ever answered her. Since they had started out with the rooms, Sasuke really did see pretty much the entire hideout before he saw any of the other members.

After the "tour", they headed back to the kitchen and the only room they hadn't been to so far: the living room. Konan figured that despite the odds being slim for it (at this time of the day), they would all be clustered around the only TV they could afford as long as Kakuzu was in charge of their finances – and sure enough, they were.

"Well, what a coincidence," Konan remarked, sounding mildly surprised. "I suppose they can sacrifice a few minutes to say hello and –"

"Konan, I need to talk to you," a voice suddenly said from the shadows, and she started.

"Pein! Don't creep up on me like that!"

"I wasn't creeping up on you!" he defended himself, but Konan had a feeling that he wasn't being entirely honest about this.

"I was just about to introduce Sasuke to –"

"Just a few moments!"

"Oh… all right. I'll be right with you, Sasuke, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, then Konan and Pein retreated to the kitchen. They started talking in low voices, so Sasuke understood nothing; not that he had been eavesdropping at all to begin with. Instead, he peeked into the living room and counted a total of four people in front of a small TV. He couldn't possibly have known that they were at least one person short… Judging by their silhouettes, which were illuminated by a simple floor lamp and the light from the TV, Sasuke concluded that his brother wasn't among them, and that was absolutely fine with him. It also gave him some confidence that while he was waiting for Konan, maybe he could get a little bit closer to get a better look, for he was undeniably somewhat curious. Slowly, being careful not to distract them in any way until Konan was done with Pein, he started to make his way across the living room, approaching them from behind.

He had almost gone as far as he dared to go when all of a sudden, he was grabbed by the chin from behind, and his head got turned forcefully. A surprised squeak escaped his lips. Wide-eyed, Sasuke stared up at a man whose face wasn't entirely visible due to a mask. All he could make out were two bright green eyes which inspected him in a positively scrutinizing manner. Suddenly, he was forced to look down, then the other way, straight forward, up again… and was it just him, or was his mouth open so the other man could look into it?! To top it off, he heard something that sounded suspiciously like "Ka-ching!"…

"**KAKUZU**!" Konan thundered from the doorway.

Things happened quickly then: one _'Thwack!'_ later, Sasuke was released, and he hastily retreated a few steps. The TV was temporarily forgotten as the others craned their necks to check out what was going on behind their backs.

"Uh-oh…" one of them muttered when they saw that Konan was positively livid.

"What the **devil** do you think you were doing, looking in his mouth as if he were a gift horse?!" Konan demanded in all but a shrill voice.

Kakuzu seemed unfazed by the fact that he had just gotten whacked over the head. "Perfect. Absolutely perfect," he commented.

"What's perfect?" Konan asked skeptically.

"You didn't tell me that we would be getting a goldmine as an addition to our ranks," Kakuzu answered. "That, of course, changes things."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Instead of turning tricks, we could just send **him** out. I mean, look at him! Dress him in rags, mess up that hair a little more, some filth here and there, and people will gladly give him their money!" A faraway expression in his eyes made it quite clear that he could already see himself bathing in a pool of money.

Now utterly confused, Sasuke looked back and forth between Konan – who was actually goggling at Kakuzu – and the penny-pincher himself, who was on the verge of getting lost in space. But before that could happen, the vice leader found her voice again.

"Kakuzu, I want to make one thing quite clear: Sasuke is **not** a toy, and he is not to be used to make your fantasies become true!"

"Does that only go for Kakuzu?" a voice from the TV corner piped up. Three guesses who.

"You're suicidal, aren't you?" Kisame asked. He was dutifully ignored.

Meanwhile, Kakuzu wasn't willing to back down just yet. "Hey, it's not as if they were bad or anything! He'd just be begging, that's all! Think about the profit –"

"No, Kakuzu! He's not a slave, for crying out loud! I don't care how much profit you're thinking about; it doesn't give you any right to stare down his throat!"

"I beg to differ, Konan," Kakuzu interjected, holding up his index finger and speaking as if he were lecturing a child. "A quality check was absolutely essential here."

Konan twitched, and the glare she directed at her fellow criminal made her look like nothing less than the diabolical spouse of the devil himself. "I'll give you two choices right now: either you drop that idea this instant and try to say hello like a normal person, or beat it. Choose wisely."

Kakuzu contemplated this for a moment, then he turned back to Sasuke, sized him up once again and then said matter-of-factly: "You know, you would make one awesome poor little beggar boy."

"That's it! Out, Kakuzu! Or I'll make **you** unable to sit down as well!" Konan told him off and pointed to the door. A wince from the TV couch told her that the previous time she had carried out that threat still hadn't lost its effect, which she noted with grim satisfaction.

"Sheesh, did you get enough sleep last night? Alright, I'll go develop better plans – you'll see the greatness of them sometime," Kakuzu vowed, and with a dramatic turn, he exited the living room.

Konan was left behind to fume at so much impertinence. She flexed her fingers as if she was about to run after Kakuzu and strangle him – but fortunately for the latter, she exercised enough self-control to merely hiss angrily.

Pein took his place beside her, albeit keeping a minimal safety distance. "If we could have your attention for a couple of minutes… An introduction is now required."

Needless to say, the remaining Akatsuki members initiated no protest of any kind. In fact, they even lined up neatly – because like Kisame had pointed out earlier, provoking her when she was already aggravated might suggest that one was suicidal…

* * *

So, was it up to scratch? I'd be delighted to know what you think - only if you can spare the time, of course. But hell, I couldn't force anyone even if I wanted to! XD

In case anyone is wondering about the timeline: I reckon the story started around July 12th (and if you think something about that is wacko, I blame the calculations I made), and I plan to leap in time... all the way up to Sasuke's birthday, for the sake of plot progression. Also, I can't wait until Deidara and Hidan are in the picture, so would anyone mind if more leaps in time were to follow, possibly fewer, but bigger ones? :3

I'll take a chance and claim that this is my New Year's present to anyone who has been waiting for a new installment of this story! If you were disappointed, I sincerely apologize and hope to do better next year. Which reminds me: I'd like to wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope it will be a great year for everyone! Take care, y'all! ^^

Regards,

_~devotedtodreams_

P.S: There will definitely be no more updates till the end of January, because now that I actually managed to update before that, I can focus on the exams now... so, where's that self-discipline I need so badly? _*goes to hunt around for self-discipline*_


	5. Material and immaterial gifts

Oh gosh... this update sure took forever, didn't it? I'm really sorry, but as it has happened all too often before, I discovered that I was depressingly uninspired once I finally had some more free time on my hands. God, that annoys me so much, but I cannot force anything (trust me, the results in such a case are nothing more than an abomination)... -.-;

Part of the lack of inspiration can be explained by a new obsession that entered my life just before the exams took place: **Kuroshitsuji**. It's a truly awesome manga, so if you don't know it yet and don't mind if things get bloody sometimes plus lots of fanservice for boys-love-fangirls (I don't care if this _supposedly _isn't a shonen-ai manga, lol!), then check it out. Man, Sebastian is just friggin' _hot_! ^////^ I wish I had a butler like him! The new chapter should be out soon (I hope!), so I'm really excited.

Also, I've spent hours watching "Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series" again, so yeah... it's just so delightfully funny! XD

But enough of that, I hereby present the new chapter! I hope it isn't too disappointing...

(BTW, certain aspects/notions are described purely in a character's POV - like Kisame thinking that Itachi killed the whole clan by himself, for instance - so by keeping that in mind, it won't catch you off-guard or anything.)

* * *

In the darkness of the room he shared with Kisame, Itachi lay on his bed, facing the wall. He felt absolutely horrible, and although it was unusual for him to mope around like this, he found himself unable to do anything about it. Today was Sasuke's birthday, his dear little brother's birthday, and for the first time ever, Sasuke didn't want to celebrate with him. Even though it had been very hard for him, Itachi had promised Konan that he wouldn't show up for the celebration. But now it was even harder to keep his promise; Sasuke had **always** wanted to celebrate with him. Memories of his 13th birthday returned to him… that wonderful afternoon he and Sasuke had spent together in a meadow where nobody had seen them, all those kisses they had shared… Back then, Sasuke had loved him more than anything else and had been happy with him. Now everything had changed – they couldn't even be in the same room.

Although nobody was there to witness his struggle with all the pain, Itachi covered his face while he tried to remind himself that all along, he had only wanted the best for Sasuke, and even if he himself would never be happy again, at least his little brother would hopefully regain that feeling someday. Perhaps even just for a moment today, by means of a present which he, Itachi, wouldn't be able to deliver without having the boy tear it apart before even acknowledging what it was.

Unless…

A thought occurred to Itachi, an idea for a birthday present which his brother would be unable to destroy. The question was if he would be able to pull it off.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Are you ready for your surprise, Sasuke?" Konan asked as she guided him to the living room.

"…I guess…" Sasuke replied, blindly turning his head as if hoping to see where they were going even though two hands were covering his eyes.

He had nearly forgotten that today was his birthday until Konan had congratulated him and offered him some tomatoes for breakfast (apparently, she had taken a closer look at the information he had written in his personal file than Sasuke had thought). Under normal circumstances, this would have successfully cheered him up, but now that he reminisced about the usual birthday treatment he would have gotten from his mother if she had still been alive, he wished that he hadn't been reminded of this day's importance at all. Noticing this, Konan had tried to comfort him as well as she could by giving him a big hug. As he had returned the favor in that almost timid way of his that she openly adored, Sasuke figured that even though his mother wasn't here to provide him with the hug and kiss he had been thinking about, this hug from Konan was a quite decent substitute, providing him with an unexpectedly pleasant feeling. However, nothing could quench his unbearable desire to see his parents again.

When she had maneuvered the boy into the living room, Konan looked up expectantly – and was glad that she hadn't removed her hands from Sasuke's eyes yet. The other members were waiting, but aside from Orochimaru, they looked as if they would rather be somewhere else. Orochimaru silently squealed when he saw Sasuke amble blindly into the room, his mouth slightly agape (which undoubtedly made the snake-sannin indulge himself in certain "fantasies"). Kisame and Sasori were having a non-too-serious thumb war under Zetsu's watchful eyes while Kakuzu appeared to be pouting. And finally, Pein was plucking at Konan's craftily-made bouquet of paper flowers, tearing off one petal at a time while his mouth moved ever so slightly as he was muttering to himself.

It was all Konan could do to restrain a growl. Moving so she only needed one hand and arm to cover Sasuke's eyes, she used her free hand to wave impatiently and thus get the others' attention. As always, Kisame assumed his soldier-like pose while Sasori resumed an air of perfect indifference. Kakuzu merely rolled his eyes, indicating that only now did his true suffering begin. Zetsu was left to tap Pein on the shoulder when the auburn-haired man didn't notice Konan's waving, and although he hastily scooted away from the vase, he kept glancing guiltily at the torn flowers. The fact that Konan looked all but livid did nothing to appease him.

Although she was glaring at them, the vice leader bared her teeth in a smile – a silent prompt for them to follow her example. They did, but overall, the results only barely qualified as passable. When Konan was at least somewhat satisfied, she allowed Sasuke to see again.

"Happy birthday, Sasuke!"

Sticking to his part (albeit reluctantly), Sasori blew into a paper party horn. Given the "effort" he put into that, the honk sounded dreadfully off-key. Konan nearly face-palmed, for she wouldn't have guessed that someone could screw up such a simple task.

Unsure and confused, Sasuke looked around. Konan's frustration ebbed away a bit when she noticed that Sasuke seemed to want the ground to swallow him up on the spot.

"Um… thanks," he finally said, his voice almost a squeak, "But this wouldn't have been necessary…"

Kakuzu perked up at this, giving Konan a meaning stare and pointing at Sasuke as if to say: _"See, I told you…!"_ Scowling, Konan made a swiping gesture – _"Cut it out!"_ – before replying in a warm and friendly voice:

"Nonsense. We want you to feel welcome, after all. **Don't we**?"

That was the signal that any objection was equivalent to one's death sentence.

"Yeah…" the others drawled.

Before an extremely awkward silence could fall, Konan suggested proceeding to the opening of the presents.

"We weren't sure what to get you, but perhaps this can get you started," she explained, handing the neatly wrapped packages to the young Uchiha.

Curious about the contents, Sasuke opened them, trying not to damage the wrapping paper. In the bigger box, he found a whole set of weapons – his new kunai, shuriken, exploding tags and such. This reminded Sasuke that aside from a spare set of clothes, he had no possessions here, everything else was probably gathering dust at home in Konoha. The other package contained a black shirt, but while it lacked the distinctive collar of his former clothing, a red Akatsuki cloud had been carefully sewn on the front. For a moment, Sasuke simply stared at his presents, being at a loss for words.

"Those had better last a while," Kakuzu muttered, eying the weaponry. Worried that Konan might hear this and sock them for it, Pein hastily stomped on his foot, causing the bounty hunter to grunt in protest. Fortunately, Konan was too busy watching Sasuke to catch on.

Finally Kisame couldn't take it anymore.

"Is it time for food yet?" he burst out, "The smell has been driving me crazy!"

Konan looked up slowly. Kisame was already starting to regret having opened his mouth when Zetsu chimed in:

"Great, it's food time!" He whipped out a human hand. "**Anyone want a finger?**"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The party had been a half-hearted ordeal to begin with, but it went downhill for good after that. The birthday anthem was sung in a way that made nails on a chalkboard sound more pleasant, and more manners were dropped when particularly Orochimaru tried to make as many moves on Sasuke as possible, who had turned green in the face when Zetsu had privately offered him a finger.

Despite Konan's remarkable effort to keep things under control, Sasuke eventually couldn't take it anymore, and he excused himself from their company.

"I'm sorry, but I… I'd like to be alone for a while now. Thank you all very much for the presents, and I'm sorry if I took up too much of your time." He bowed shortly.

"Sasuke…" Konan began, attempting to apologize because things hadn't turned out quite as she had hoped they would.

He shook his head and hugged her. "You wouldn't have needed to make such efforts just because of me. But thank you anyway."

"I'm so sorry…" she whispered, gritting her teeth. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Yeah." Almost all of the cheerfulness he had struggled to summon throughout the entire celebration was rapidly crumbling, and after breaking free from her arms, he hastily retreated from the room. In the silence which followed that, one might have been able to hear a fly breathe.

She looked lost for a moment, but then Konan slowly rose from where she had knelt in front of Sasuke and turned to face the others. Never had her look of disappointment been greater than now.

"I hope you're happy now," she muttered darkly before leaving as well after a quick turn that made her cloak billow.

Another silence ensued until her footsteps definitely couldn't be heard anymore.

"…I suppose that could have been a lot worse," Sasori finally commented.

"At least it wasn't our fault," Zetsu claimed, and his black side agreed: "**Yeah, we're off the hook.**" Little did he know that he was in for one hell of a lecture in the evening.

"Don't you think you've already had enough cake, Kisame?" Pein asked when he noticed that the shark-man was cutting off another piece, albeit smaller than the last one.

"It's not for me, Leader-sama; it's for Itachi."

"How come he got spared of this while we didn't?" Kakuzu complained. In his opinion, the only up-side of this was that they hadn't been forced to wear stupid paper party hats.

Kisame had had the best attitude throughout the celebration (this had earned him a few bonus points in Konan's book), but now he looked unusually solemn.

"Unlike you, Itachi would have liked to be here. But he stayed away for Sasuke's sake, so don't act as if he **asked** to be excused," he told Kakuzu before leaving with the piece of cake.

The remaining members quickly exchanged glances, but Kakuzu grumbled all the same.

It was Orochimaru who spoke up next. "Leader-sama, I've been thinking… since Sasuke-kun got those weapons, perhaps he could use someone who'd train with him…"

Seeing where this was going, Pein shook his head. "I don't think so, Orochimaru. You know what Konan said about that matter, and I'd like to keep my head a little longer."

"Aw, come on, she's going overboard with this! I only want the best for Sasuke-kun, after all!" the snake-sannin protested.

Pein groaned and made a mental note – hopefully he would remember it later – to deploy **Orochimaru** on the next mission so he would be out of their hair for a while…

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kisame went back to the room he shared with Itachi to find the latter staring at the ceiling with an absolutely blank expression on his face. This wasn't the same Itachi he had last seen several months ago, but even though he wished it weren't so, Kisame knew that there was little he could do right now to change anything about it.

"Hey, Itachi," he said.

The Uchiha didn't respond immediately. "Kisame," he replied after a pause. A second one followed this, then he continued: "Shouldn't you be attending the celebration?"

"It's already over. Sasuke… wasn't in that much of a party mood and retreated to his room," the shark-man answered carefully and offered him the plate. "Cake?"

Itachi just stared at it for a moment before declining. "No, thank you."

"But it's really good! Konan put quite some time and effort into making it," Kisame persisted, "And besides: just because you don't celebrate doesn't mean you shouldn't eat cake."

"I'm not hungry," Itachi retorted.

Now Kisame frowned. "But you barely eat anything. Don't you want to at least try it?"

Itachi gave him a strange look, and Kisame fidgeted; even though Sasuke's brother was still young, he had slain his whole clan, so Kisame decided that just to be on the safe side, he should be somewhat cautious.

"Listen, I'm not trying to sound like your mother or anything… but you're my new partner, and I don't want you to starve yourself even though you're facing… um… rough times," he finished with a slight hesitation.

"There's no need to be concerned about me; I insist that Sasuke comes first."

"I respect that, but nevertheless, you're here as well, and that's just as important."

Itachi looked as if he wished that Kisame hadn't said that. An awkward silence fell between them, only getting interrupted by a single sound as Kisame put the cake on Itachi's bedside table in a silent act of stubbornness. Finally, Itachi stood up.

"Excuse me for a moment, I'll be right back."

Silently, Kisame watched him go until he was at the door. "I'll just leave the cake here, okay?" he called after him.

Itachi didn't answer and disappeared from view. Kisame sighed as if in defeat. Given the fact that it had been only two weeks since Itachi had defected from Konoha and he was merely 13 years old, this could only be the beginning of a long road, a road which would hopefully bring Sasuke and Itachi back together again in the end.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In his room, Sasuke curled up on his bed, staring glumly at nothing in particular. He wondered how he was supposed to get through all of this. Sure, Konan was doing her very best to support his integration, and Kisame was trying as well, but the others merely seemed to deem him a nuisance. Well, it wasn't as if this what he had truly wanted – they should blame his brother, if anyone.

Sasuke remembered what Konan had told him about how they weren't sure what he wanted for his birthday, absent-mindedly gazing at his presents. It didn't matter that he hadn't voiced any wishes because nobody could fulfill them unless they had the power to bring his parents back along with the brother he had cherished and loved. But that was impossible, for the dead couldn't be brought back. At least, that was what he had been taught.

For a moment, Sasuke found himself wishing that he hadn't fought back, that Itachi had killed him instead of bringing him here. Instead, he was subjected to living in the same place as the elder, and every time they met, no matter how brief it was, Sasuke felt the strong urge to scream at him and demand an explanation about the whole massacre although he couldn't think of any explanation that would enable him to handle this any better. At the same time, however, he also wanted nothing to do with Itachi, because really, who would want to have anything to do with the murderer of one's parents…?

His musings were interrupted when he heard the door open. Ah, it was most probably Konan, who wanted to talk it over with him. Sasuke figured that he owed her an apology for walking out on the party she had organized just for him. With a heavy sigh, he sat up and quickly made sure that he wasn't crying or anything before turning around.

"Konan, I –"

Further words failed him just then, for it wasn't Konan who had come to visit him; it was Itachi.

Sasuke gawked at him for several moments while Itachi merely stared back, looking anything but threatening – indifferent, perhaps, but not threatening. Then he began to approach his sibling, who snapped out of his daze and hastily reached for his new weapons, snarling:

"You…!"

But he never got the chance to grab one of the kunai at all, for a second later, Itachi had overcome the distance between them, and as he stood there looking down at him, Sasuke felt fear resurface within him, the same fear he had felt when Itachi had come after him upon his discovery of their dead parents.

"Do not struggle, otouto. I do not seek a fight."

"What are you here for, then?" Sasuke spat, his eyes ablaze with defiance and rage.

"I see you've received presents…" Itachi began.

"I don't want a present from you! Go away!" Sasuke yelled and lunged at him, hating the way his brother was going about this as if he had every right to be here.

In a flash, Itachi caught his wrist, and before Sasuke could make use of his other hand, he grabbed the other wrist as well and pinned Sasuke down on the bed, looming over him. His eyes turned red with the Sharingan, and as if he knew what was coming next, Sasuke gasped and looked away.

"Look at me, Sasuke. I don't think you'd want to miss out on this present," Itachi coaxed him and called upon the Mangekyou Sharingan.

This only made Sasuke close his eyes and whisper fiercely: "Go away…!"

"Not until you look at me," the smooth voice of his sibling replied, and no sooner had the elder's hands let go of his wrists when Sasuke felt those same hands gently cup his cheeks.

Not having expected this, Sasuke flinched, and his eyes flew open as he glared at Itachi, wanting to demand of him to let go. Instead, he was looking straight into those eyes again, instantly drowning in them.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As soon as he felt it again – the strange sensation of getting whisked away to another place – Sasuke closed his eyes tightly and screamed.

It was already too late for the sound to leave his lips from where he was sprawled on the bed; there, it merely sounded like a pained gasp before it became a faint sigh. But the part of him that was swept away to the alternate universe where Itachi ruled everything certainly did scream. He felt as if he was in the middle of a storm with no ground to stand on and nothing to hold on to, completely defenseless against the wind that jostled him around, ever wilder and faster until –

It stopped. Quite abruptly, too.

Sasuke's breath hitched and his eyes snapped open, looking wild with fear. Where on earth…? Itachi was gone, no longer looming over him with those creepy eyes, and his surroundings weren't plunged in the dim light of the hideout. In fact…

Blinking in disbelief, Sasuke sat up and looked around, ignoring how his heart was still pounding. This room… the bed he was sitting on… he **knew** this. His fingers reached out and touched a pillow with his name on it in small, neat blue stitches. There was no doubt about it: he was home again. Home, in his room.

"Itachi, what did you do?" he called loudly, remembering what his brother had told him. But he waited in vain for an answer; all he could hear were birds chirping outside. Sasuke's tenseness ebbed away, and he focused on his surroundings again, still not quite believing it.

Moving as if he were in a trance, he got out of his bed and left the room. The last time he had been here, the house had been dark and gloomy, deserted except for his brother with their dead parents at his feet. But now everything looked just like it had before that night: bright, inviting and friendly. Sasuke even peered into his parents' bedroom. The bed had been made just like any other morning, and yet… who said that he wouldn't find his mother and father lifeless in a room below, or at least some blood stains where they had crumpled to the floor? That couldn't be ruled out, but there was something in the air that gave Sasuke hope again.

"Okasan? Otosan?" he called, quietly at first as he headed for the stairs. He passed Itachi's room, sparing it nothing else but a nervous glance. Although no one answered, Sasuke found that his hope hadn't lessened as he slowly went down the stairs.

At the bottom, he called out anew, only louder this time. Still no answer. A faint sound reached his ears, however – a giggle. Someone was here… someone was outside, Sasuke concluded, sure that the sound had come from beyond the door to their backyard.

Slowly, he approached the door and wasn't surprised to see that his hands were shaking a bit as he reached out to open it. Again, his heart was in his throat. Finally the door opened, and Sasuke had enough time to widen his eyes in the sunlight before he was swept off his feet.

"Sasuke! Oh, I'm so happy to see you again!" It was but a whisper, a whisper of utmost relief and happiness.

Everything was there: the voice, the warmth, the love… all the same, one question remained at the tip of his tongue, waiting to be asked: _How…?!_ He struggled to speak for a moment, but managed to find his voice again.

"Oka… okasan…" At first, Sasuke could hardly believe that he had really said that, not to mention his current situation as well. But once that word had escaped his lips, everything seemed a lot realer, and suddenly the feeling of pure joy overwhelmed him so much that he broke free of his trance-like state.

"Okasan!" he cried and vehemently returned his mother's embrace.

"My darling…" she cooed, unleashing all her motherly love upon him. And Sasuke gladly let it happen. A small bit of him remained rational, struggling to understand how this could be since he could have sworn that he had seen her dead just two weeks ago. Or had it all just been a strange and horrible dream?

Just then, someone touched his head, giving his hair a brief ruffle, and Sasuke found himself looking at his father. But this time, Fugaku was actually smiling. **Smiling**. Not as much as his mother, but the smile was more prominent than the few ones Sasuke had seen; he couldn't remember to have ever seen the man smile at him like this.

"Hello, son."

"O-otosan…" Sasuke was too stunned by the sight of **both** his parents to be dismayed about the slight stammer in his voice when he saw his father again. "I… you… but…" He faltered, looking from his mother to his father and back again before continuing faintly: "…How can this be?"

"Does it matter?" Mikoto asked softly.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say yes, but instead realized that actually, it didn't. Ever since that fateful night, he had had nightmares in which he had seen their blood-stained, lifeless faces, and when he had woken up, there had been nothing but loneliness. But now they were here again, he could feel, see and hear them. They had returned, and that was all that mattered. Sasuke felt tears well up in his eyes as pure happiness overwhelmed him, and finally he answered his mother's question.

"No, it doesn't." The incredulity in his expression vanished and got replaced with a smile as wide as Christmas instead. "Okasan! Otosan!" he cried joyfully.

Seemingly relieved that her son had reacted like this, Mikoto laughed and held him close again. Laughing and sobbing dryly at the same time, Sasuke returned the favor, and he thought he would burst with joy when his father stroked his hair affectionately. Finally, after all those times he had hoped that Fugaku would appreciate him, Sasuke's dream had come true.

How long they stood there, he didn't know, but to be honest, he didn't really care. All that mattered was that they were together again.

"We've been waiting for you," Mikoto said after a while.

Those words! Remembering where he had heard them before, Sasuke looked at her anxiously and gasped: "You mean, n–" Just in time, he stopped himself from calling his brother like that (he blamed it on the momentary premise that he had nearly let it slip to begin with) and continued instead: "Itachi, I mean?"

To his astonishment, his parents exchanged looks, for a moment looking oddly as if they had no idea who he was talking about, before they answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world:

"This isn't about Itachi, sweetheart. He isn't even here."

"After all, this is **your** special day, Sasuke," Fugaku added.

"Then who's «we»?" Sasuke inquired.

"Surprise!"

"It's us, itoko!"

Upon hearing those voices, Sasuke finally bothered to look beyond his parents and saw Shisui, Natsuko and their parents. They were all smiles, and when they noticed that they had gotten his attention, Natsuko proceeded to hurry towards him with her brother hot on her heels. Smiling knowingly, Mikoto put her son down, who once again seemed overwhelmed by what he saw.

"Happy birthday, itoko!" Natsuko cried and flung her arms around Sasuke in a bear-hug.

"Natsuko…!" Sasuke sighed, overjoyed to see her again.

Beaming, she squeezed him anew before surrendering him to her brother, who gave him his trademark, playful pinch in the cheek.

"Happy birthday from me too, Sasuke. I daresay you're already taller than the last time I saw you…" he grinned.

"You think so?" Sasuke asked, briefly looking himself over and sizing up his height with Shisui's.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. So, how are you doing on this big day of yours?"

And in all honesty, now that he had surrendered to this sudden but delightful change, Sasuke answered: "Great."

From then on, it was one of the best birthdays Sasuke had ever had.

Time lost its meaning for him as all his favorite games were played, and although the adults participated often enough, he always seemed to win. But even when he didn't, he was having way too much fun to have any hard feelings about it. Eventually, his mother presented him with a fabulous birthday cake, and as he blew out the candles, Sasuke found himself wishing that this day would never end even though deep down, he knew it was an impossible wish. But everything was just so perfect in his rush of joy that he honestly had no other wish.

Several hours of excitement and high spirits later – _How many? Three? Seven? More? Sasuke didn't know, and he didn't care._ – Shisui and his family bade them goodbye.

"That was fun! We should do that again sometime soon, itoko!" Natsuko said cheerfully from where she was perched on her brother's back. Sasuke nodded happily in agreement.

"See you soon, Sasuke. And remember to keep your head up and your mind open," Shisui reminded him, fondly ruffling his hair.

"I'll do my best," Sasuke replied, still being all smiles.

"We hope you had a wonderful day, Sasuke-kun," Kasumi said.

"I did, obasan. Thank you so much!" Sasuke told her.

"And don't forget to look out for yourself, okay?" Saborou gave his shoulder a single, comradely pat.

"I won't, ojisan," Sasuke promised, hinting a bow. To which Saborou had cast his brother a meaningful look and Fugaku had nodded, a small smile still in place on his face.

Now Sasuke sat in his mother's lap on the porch, relaxing contentedly in her arms. Mikoto had lightly put her chin on his shoulder, and they watched the sky become darker as dusk was upon them.

"I hope you enjoyed your birthday, dear," she remarked eventually.

"It was the best birthday ever, okasan," Sasuke assured her.

"Eight years old already… you're growing up so fast!" she sighed. "I'm proud of you, Sasuke, I really am."

"I think chichi is finally proud of me too," Sasuke murmured happily.

"Of course he is. He always was."

"Always…?"

"Always," Mikoto confirmed, "Trust me."

Sasuke didn't reply, but knew that there was no need for that. He had been in doubt about that for so long, but at least now he knew what it was like to be free of those doubts.

They were silent for a while, simply enjoying the evening tranquility, but when the sun bathed them in orange light, Mikoto spoke up again, her voice sounding rather heavy this time.

"It's nearly time to say goodbye, sweetheart."

"Goodbye?" At first, Sasuke had no idea what made her say that. But now his rationality kicked in, and he remembered that Itachi was the reason why he was here at all. He was here because he had gazed upon that strange Sharingan in his brother's eyes. Itachi had deceived him once, and now he had deceived him again. That was all there was to it; as wonderful as the day had been, it had been **too** perfect. In fact, it had been a giveaway from the moment his parents seemed to have "forgotten" Itachi for the latest. Still… he didn't want to leave.

"I don't want to say goodbye, okasan," he whispered, grabbing her apron.

"You must."

"I wished that this day would last forever! Don't make it end so soon!" Sasuke pleaded. He had been happy for so long, it seemed, but now he felt tears welling up in his eyes again, and these weren't tears of happiness.

Mikoto didn't like seeing him in such a state and did her best to calm him down. "Please calm down, honey… everything will be alright…"

"How can it be alright if I have to say goodbye to you?!" Sasuke sniffed.

"Just because we say goodbye doesn't mean it will be forever," she told him and held him tightly yet tenderly against her.

"But I don't **wanna**…" a soft whine reached her ears.

Just then, Fugaku came back out of the house again and sat down next to his wife, eying his silently crying son.

"You told him," he concluded, his voice unusually quiet.

"It's almost time, yes," she replied.

Fugaku sighed. "Son, listen to your mother. Certain goodbyes are harder to pay than others, but it's something everyone must go through."

Sasuke peeked at him with one glistening eye. "Will I see you again? Will I really?" he choked.

Again, his parents exchanged somewhat peculiar glances. Sasuke wished that he knew what they were thinking. Instead of answering immediately, Mikoto began to gently rock him back and forth, stroking his hair and humming his favorite lullaby under her breath.

"Whether you do or not is entirely up to you," Fugaku spoke.

"What do you mean, otosan?" Sasuke asked. As usual when his mother treated him like this, he felt himself quickly becoming very sleepy. But he struggled to stay awake, for somehow he just **knew** that if he fell asleep now, they wouldn't be there anymore when he would awaken.

However, he received no response from his father. For once, the man actually seemed to be staring into space as though he were at a loss for words. Mikoto's voice continued to soothe Sasuke, who soon felt that he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes open much longer. They did close briefly, a mere blink, but it startled him all the same, for he didn't want to fall asleep. But just before they closed again, Fugaku looked back at him, and once more Sasuke was rewarded with a fleeting but faintly affectionate touch from him. Then his eyes finally closed, and he stifled a sob when he knew that they wouldn't open again… not **here**, anyway.

"Please don't go… I miss you…" he begged, his voice little more than a murmur.

The humming stopped for a short moment, and he heard his mother's voice breathe into his ear: "Ssh, Sasuke… We know you do, but remember that even if you can't see us, we're always with you. We always will be."

"But I wanna stay here…"

Instead of answering verbally, Mikoto nuzzled him apologetically and immediately felt how he tightened his grip on her sleeve. If he hadn't been facing away from her, she would have lightly kissed his forehead, but now all she could do was reach around him and caress his cheek. They only had another moment or two left; just enough time to tell him one last thing.

"We love you, sweetie. Remember that," she whispered.

Fugaku hesitated, and although Sasuke couldn't see him do so, he nodded. This earned him a thankful yet somewhat pained smile from his wife, who then resumed humming Sasuke's lullaby again, and after just a few notes, it seemed, her voice faded away, and the boy slipped into a dreamless slumber.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A mere matter of seconds had passed since he had used the Mangekyou Sharingan on Sasuke, but even in that short time, Itachi noticed a big difference in the younger one's facial expression as that mixture of confusion, anger and fear faded first into peacefulness, then to no real expression at all as Sasuke drifted off to sleep when the illusion was over. His work here was done, he had no more business here and no right to linger. However, it was his duty as a big brother to care of his little brother, so Itachi continued to sidestep the rules long enough to tuck Sasuke in. While watching him sleep as he did that, Itachi wondered if it had been selfish of him to believe that he might be doing Sasuke a favor.

'_I guess I'll know soon enough,'_ he decided.

Briefly, he caressed Sasuke's cheek with his fingertips, trying to ignore his own heartache.

"Happy birthday, otouto," he whispered. To his surprise, his voice sounded fairly firm.

Finally, he turned away from the bed and headed back for the door through which he should never have come. He had thought that there was nothing else to say, but just before he opened the door, he remembered one thing he had forgotten. He didn't go back, but he glanced at Sasuke's sleeping form once more, barely hearing himself when he opened his mouth.

"I love you…"

Then he was gone, and even though he knew he wasn't welcome here, he wished he could have stayed so Sasuke wouldn't be alone when he woke up.

* * *

Gee, I almost don't dare to ask for feedback this time... you see, I'm not really happy with this. With the beginning, I mean. I've rewritten that three times already, though, and I can only rewrite stuff a certain number of times. Unless I rewrite this thing entirely (which is rather unlikely), this is pretty much the way it'll stay.

If anyone bothers to review this, I'd like to ask you something: do you think I'm losing my touch? Or have I already lost it? You know, I reread parts of MTCLF while reconstructing the timeline as good as I could, and personally, I don't think I'm doing so well at the moment. *sigh* So yeah, I'd like to hear your opinion about this. (Oh, and thanks to those who voted in my poll - to all others, feel free to cast your vote too!)

School's gonna start again next week, and in order not to make any false promises, I won't even predict when the next chapter will be done. I'm just having serious problems with thinking up at least some filling material between the plot points I've come up with so far, and I'm anything but familiar with timeskips of one year or more... I might even put this on a temporary hiatus until I'm properly inspired again and write a couple of oneshots instead or something...

Well, that's all from me for now. Cookies for everyone who made it this far and aren't bored! Love all of ya!

_~dd_


	6. Author's Note

Um… hi guys. _(waves shyly)_ Here goes nothing… _(takes deep breath)_

I'm really sorry to do this, but I'm gonna declare this story to be on **temporary hiatus**. In fact, the same goes for all my other Naruto stories, including the ones I have neither finished nor published yet.

Now, before you chase me down with pitchforks or throw rotten tomatoes at me (though who would I be to stop you?), let me explain why.

a) My muse has been anything but cooperative in terms of Naruto lately. Seriously; she helped me think of stuff that will happen in the future, but I fail to come up with decent ideas to fill in some of the time between the present and the future. What use is it to be constantly dreaming about the future if I can't maintain a passable flow until then…? Also, if I'm completely honest… I'm just not all that happy with how the story is progressing. Perhaps I've been blinded by the unexpected success of "Moments that could last forever", but I don't think I've achieved my goal of writing a worthy sequel to that…

b) I've written more than half of the next chapter, but now I'm stuck, and I mean up to my armpits in the quicksand of Writer's Block. Granted, it may not take much more before I could consider it finished, but I've got to prepare for some very important exams in the next few weeks. It's a mountain of stuff to learn, and if I don't get passing grades, my parents might lynch me -.- So yeah… it's your basic college excuse, but I really mean it.

c) I've entered yet another obsession, and like I've said before, I suck balls at juggling multiple obsessions. And this obsession has really sucked me in deep… I'm talking about "Hetalia: Axis Powers". (If you don't know about this and wonder if it might be something you can get behind, here's a nice little phrase I found in a forum: "If you can take alternate interpretations of history and boy-love between anthropomorphic countries, then you should at least check it out.") I just can't help it… I love everything about it. The basic idea, the characters, the "plot"… It has been a while since I've encountered something that makes me so very happy and is so downright cute! Now, as usual with new obsessions, I spend a fair deal of time hunting for pictures, videos and the works, and I might also be trying to write something for this fandom as well. "Try" being the key word here. If I could successfully ship Russia and America in one of my works, I'd be a very happy fangirl indeed…

Alright, time to wrap this up. Again, I'm really sorry about this, but I shall do my best to continue where I left off. In the meantime, I'd like to thank everyone who alerted/faved/reviewed (especially reviewed) the story and hope that you won't hate me too much for this. This goes especially for you, **CC **and **SS**, because this story is dedicated to you. Words cannot fully express exactly how sorry I am…!

Take care, and I wish only the best to all of you! _(bows)_

_~devotedtodreams_

P.S: Flames will be ignored and promply deleted (in Outlook). However, if you contact me in a friendly manner and wish for a response, I'll be happy to comply._  
_


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